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David Dastmalchian says Netflix's live-action One Piece adaptation is a true labor of love, and that he can't wait for fans to meet his brand new villain in season 2.
"I don't know when it's coming out, but I know that it's gonna be soon, and I know that the magic you see when you watch the live action One Piece is because all the people who are making it are truly so dedicated to the world, to Oda's world, to the world of the show, to the characters," Dastmalchian tells GamesRadar+. "They are like a family. We would get together and do game nights, and I just watched the Straw Hats and you know all the baddies and the good guys together, and everyone just loved one another and working on the show so much. It was really special."
In One Piece season 2, Dastmalchian plays Mr. 3, a rather over-the-top antagonist who made his manga debut in Chapter 117 and his anime debut in episode 70. He was an average officer agent for the criminal enterprise known as Baroque Works, until he consumed the Devil Fruit (the same type that gave Monkey D. Luffy his stretchy powers). Besides being a criminal mastermind, the tea-drinking sadist is able to control candle wax and manipulate it into any shape he wants, often using it to mimic living human beings. He can also shoot fire from his hair...which is shaped like the number 3. While we haven't seen a proper photo of Dastmalchian's Mr. 3, we have seen his fingernails, which appear to have wax dripping from the tips.
"I've gotten really close to a lot of the people who helped make that show come to life, and I just think it's such a thrill getting to be someone as dark and twisted and eccentric and exciting as Mr. 3," he says. "I can't wait for people to see what they've done. I mean, we really fully fleshed out the world of Little Garden, and I don't think they've really released any imagery yet, but when they do, I hope people are as excited as I was because it was so dynamic and beautiful."
Netflix just released the first photo of Mr. 3's house...and it's quite the upgrade. In both the manga and anime, Mr. 3's house is a pretty plain, white cube with some drippy wax on top. Some fans (including myself) have always wondered why Mr. 3's house was so plain when the villain himself is quite theatrical and eccentric...but Netflix has corrected this. The live-action house, which is nestled on an island known as Little Garden, is more of a luxurious wax villa, complete with curtains in the windows and a little chimney.
"It's really tricky when you think about how hard it's been for people to find the good adaptations of anime to live action," Dastmalchian continues. "And they nailed it because they leaned into what makes the manga work. And the manga is what makes the anime work. And you take both of those source materials, and if you're willing to listen to do the magic of that, that's what makes the live action work."
One Piece season 2 arrives on Netflix in 2026. While we wait, fill out your watchlist with our picks of the other best Netflix shows streaming now.
