One Piece season 2 is officially setting sail at Netflix, and there's a lot more of the Straw Hats' story to tell. We don't have a release date just yet, but that doesn't mean we don't know anything about Luffy, Nami, and the rest of the crew's next voyage. In fact, we have a fair few casting rumors, updates from the showrunners, and some speculation about when it could return.
That's not all either as given how the first season ended, and the prospect of the Grand Line and the mythical One Piece on the horizon, we have a pretty good idea of where the story is heading next. That's not even mentioning the One Piece season 1 post-credits scene either, which seemingly introduced a big new character. Oh, and there is that spin-off announcement too as the One Piece universe grows...
So jump aboard the Going Merry as we run through everything you need to know about One Piece season 2.
One Piece season 2 release date speculation
One Piece season 2 was officially confirmed in a video by Netflix, featuring creator Eiichiro Oda saying, "It seems people around the world have been enjoying the show, which makes the hard work from the production team truly worth it. To everyone who’s been a fan of One Piece for years, and to those who experienced One Piece for the first time, thank you so much. Two weeks after the launch, I just received some great news. Netflix has decided to renew the show! The adventures of Iñaki and the live-action Straw Hats will continue onward!"
NAKAMA!!! 🏴☠️👑 It fills us with great joy to give you this message directly from Oda-Sensei. ⛵️ #OnePieceNetflix #OnePieceLiveAction pic.twitter.com/X8ZOLPkaXDSeptember 14, 2023
However, things were delayed by the writers' strikes, meaning that the writers' room only opened in October 2023. Randy Troy shared the update on Twitter, promising that they've got big things cooking.
We don't have a release date yet of course, but we predict it's still a way off yet. And given how the first season took almost eight months – and the likely increased scale and scope of a new season – then we’re looking at an absolute minimum of two years before One Piece season 2 hits our screens. 2025 (and beyond) seems like a long way away, but, hopefully, it’ll be worth the wait.
One Piece season 2 cast: who could join the Straw Hats?
First up, it’s apparent that the bulk of the main cast will return in One Piece season 2. That includes Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy), Nami (Emily Rudd), Zoro (Mackenyu), Sanji (Taz Skylar), and Usopp (Jacob Romero).
Other standouts, such as Buggy the Clown (Jeff Ward, who you may know from a stint in the MCU), Koby (Morgan Davies), and Luffy’s grandfather Monkey D. Garp (Vincent Regan) should all return.
Of course, if you know the source material, you’ll be acutely aware that characters such as Shanks (Peter Gadiot) and Alvida (Ilia Isorelýs Paulino) will have a more significant role to play down the line.
Looking ahead, fans are getting excited about which characters could debut in One Piece season 2.
Chief among them is Kureha, a doctor on Drum Island. Jamie Lee Curtis has previously expressed interest in playing the role and, frankly, we’re completely down with that.
Other new characters who should be introduced, depending on what’s being adapted (more on that below), include former lighthouse keeper-turned-doctor Crocus, Officer Agent Bon Clay, the Arabasta princess Vivi, Baroque Works president Crocodile, and vice-president Robin.
Two characters who are almost certainly joining the series are Smoker – glimpsed at the end of the first season – and Chopper, who we see a drawing of in the One Piece season 2 announcement video.
One Piece season 2 story: what chapters are being adapted?
One Piece season 1 adapted chapters 1-95 of Oda’s long-running manga, leading us to the very end of the Arlong Park arc.
The 100 chapters = one season seems to be as good of a guideline as any to use right now, and points us to where the show could go next in One Piece season 2.
If things continue at a similar pace, the second season could adapt the Loguetown arc (chapters 96-100), Reverse Mountain arc (chapters 101-104), Whisky Peak (chapters 106-114), and Little Garden (chapters 115-129) within the first two or three episodes.
Those arcs – minor spoilers here, but we’ll keep things vague – see Luffy and the Straw Hats face off against Smoker, meet the whale Laboon, head to new locations, encounter fresh allies, and confront the officers of Baroque Works.
The rest of the season will likely adapt the Drum Island arc (chapters 130-154), which sees one of the crew fall ill. It also introduces the aforementioned Dr. Kureha. Finally, things will be rounded off – with the bulk of the season, we expect – with the epic Arabasta arc (chapters 155-217). Let’s hope Netflix expands the season count to 10 episodes so they can fit everything in – especially as events in the Kingdom of Arabasta deserve, arguably, at least five episodes to account for its new characters and climactic events.
When can we expect a One Piece season 2 trailer?
Not anytime soon, that’s for sure. The first trailer for its debut season arrived roughly two months before it docked on Netflix. With that in mind, we’ll have a better idea once cameras start rolling again. Again, expect 2025 to be the most likely answer for this.
How many seasons of One Piece will there be?
Right now, only two pieces of One Piece have been officially confirmed. There have been talks of mapping out story plans for six seasons, while the producers are eyeing up to 12 seasons to adapt the bulk of the source material.
"We’re over 1,080 chapters at this point in the manga. We have plans with [co-showrunner] Matt Owens for how we would break multiple seasons, and I think even if we did six seasons, we would probably only use up half of the chapters of the manga. It really could go on and on and on," producer Becky Clements told Deadline.
She added: "We’ve definitely had more thorough conversations about what we would do with Season 2 should we have the opportunity, and then less extensive conversations about where we would go for season three to six."
Fellow producer Marty Adelstein said, "We have hopes for 12 seasons, there’s so much material."
For more on One Piece, here’s what you should read next after watching the Netflix series. Then, read our interview with co-showrunner Steven Maeda on the cliffhanger ending. If you need to fill out your watchlist, here are the best Netflix shows and best Netflix movies you should be watching right now.
