The crew of the Going Merry has finally been revealed!
Today, Netflix and Eiichiro Oda (the creator of One Piece) announced who will be playing the critical members of the live action One Piece series. They took to social media to make the announcement and have the actors introduce themselves and who they will be playing.
Welcome to Netflix Straw Hats! @InakiGodoy, @mackenyu1116, @emilysteaparty, @itsbookofjacob and Taz Skylar. pic.twitter.com/sLwsJlO37P
— ONE PIECE(ワンピース) Netflix (@onepiecenetflix) November 9, 2021
Inaki Godoy (Who Killed Sara?) will star as Monkey D. Luffy, the captain of the Going Merry/Straw Hat Pirates on a quest to become the King of the Pirates. His three sword-wielding first mate Roronoa Zoa will be played by Mackenyu (Pacific Rim: Uprising). Emily Rudd (Dynasty, The Romanoffs) has been cast as the beloved thief and navigator Nami. Usopp, the sharpshooting coward, will be played by Jacob Romero Gibson (Greenleaf). Finally, Taz Skylar (Villain) will be playing the chef Sanji. While the overall plot of the series is following Monkey D. Luffy’s pursuit of becoming King of the Pirates, each member of the crew has their own unique motivations for joining the Straw Hat Pirates.
This is a big break for these 5 talented actors. However, it’s also one that comes with a lot of expectations and pressure. Eiichiro Oda created One Piece over 2 decades ago and fans have been following the adventure for over 1,000 episodes, featuring almost 1,000 individual characters. To make a live action version of this massive anime is an ambitious task by Netflix, to say the least.
It will be very interesting to see how they approach the first season of the One Piece series, because there is a lot of setup and origin that happens on the East Blue before the crew get to The Grand Line, which is the pivotal landscape of the entire series. You have to wonder which villains will they choose to face? Will the live action series focus on the Arlong Park arc after each member is introduced? You have to believe they’ll take on Buggy the Clown, as well. Will season 1 end with the crew landing on The Grand Line or will they try to get there mid-season?
Obviously, I’m a huge One Piece fan so I’m very invested in seeing how they approach this One Piece series. So far, I do like the cast. They seem to have the right energy for each character. Now, we just need to find out how true to the anime the series will be.
The live action One Piece series is the next in a string of live action anime adaptations by Netflix. The streaming giant has the live action Cowboy Bebop series premiering on November 19, 2021. They are also in the process of developing a live action Avatar: The Last Airbender series, which appears to be farther along than One Piece at the moment. Today, Netflix also announced a live action Yu Yu Hakusho series is in the works for December 2023.
Netflix has not announced an official date for the live action One Piece series.
