As much as I’ve enjoyed making my way through the One Piece anime (which recently hit a major milestone), I look forward to the day when I can stream new episodes of the live-action show again with my Netflix subscription. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like One Piece Season 2 will debut on the 2025 TV schedule, instead being saved for a 2026 release. However, it has been indicated that Season 3 is already in the works, and a big behind-the-scenes shakeup that was just announced could lend credence to this.
Netflix’s One Piece was created by Matt Owens and Steve Maeda, with the men handling showrunning duties together that first season. Maeda then departed the series, and Owens served as the sole showrunner in Season 2, which has wrapped filming. Now Owens has shared on Instagram that’s leaving One Piece as well, writing:
The last 6 years working on the live action One Piece have been a life changing journey. A dream come true. I’d also been A LOT. So I’m stepping off the Going Merry to take a break and focus on myself and my mental health. Thank you so much to Oda, Shueisha, Tomorrow Studios, Netflix, and the entire cast and crew for your trust, partnership, and hard work. For now I’m gonna take a breath, do some therapy, try and rank up in Marvel Rivals, and come back refreshed for the new adventures that await. Thanks to everyone who has supported me. See you real soon!
It’s a shame that Owens is departing One Piece, as now the show no longer has either of the creators of this adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s source material. However, I admire Matt Owens for prioritizing his mental health and realizing he needs to step away from the Netflix show to make that happen. While every TV series comes with its own challenges, One Piece especially looks like it’s a major undertaking, and not hard to envision Owens experiencing a lot of stressful moments.
But a thought also came to my mind as I was writing his post: why share this with the world if One Piece wasn’t continuing? If the series was ending with Season 2, there’d have been no reason for Matt Owens to say anything. The season would eventually come out, and that would be that.
The fact that Owens took the time to write this statement leads me to think that Netflix will either greenlight One Piece Season 3 soon or has already done so. In fact, Roronoa Zoro actor Mackenyu mentioned last month that he’s working on several projects before shooting One Piece Season 3, so the latter is definitely a realistic possibility. Considering that Season 2 will stop short of hitting the Alabasta storyline, I’d be disappointed if Season 3 wasn’t happening, as it’s the culmination of arcs we’ll see unfold in this next season.
I’ll continue waiting for the news that One Piece Season 3 is a go and when we’ll be able to watch Season 2. Season 1 ended up being Netflix’s most-watched show in the latter half of 2023, and the One Piece franchise as a whole is more popular than ever. It’d be a shame if these versions of Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates went away after just two seasons, so let’s hope I’m right about this.
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