Warning: spoilers ahead for One Piece.
Contents
Summary
- Netflix’s live-action One Piece hints at three future members of Luffy’s crew.
- Chopper is foreshadowed as the next addition, with Luffy realizing the crew needs a doctor after Zoro is injured.
- While two future Straw Hars are likely to appear in season 2, another’s arrival may be delayed until a later season due to the show’s pacing and storyline.
Luffy has only just started assembling his blossoming Straw Hat Pirates, but Netflix’s live-action One Piece is already dropping hints for three future additions to the crew. In the original One Piece anime and manga, Eiichiro Oda’s East Blue saga follows the origins of Monkey D. Luffy’s Straw Hat Pirates, and Netflix’s live-action adaptation adopts the same format for introducing One Piece‘s main cast. Across the first eight episodes of sea-faring shenanigans, Luffy is joined by the swordsman Roronoa Zoro, navigator and thief Nami, sharpshooting liar Usopp, and high-kicking chef Sanji.
While Netflix now has plenty of protagonists to juggle if One Piece season 2 happens, the anime and manga series proves Luffy’s crew will grow larger still. At the time of writing, the main Straw Hat crew has 10 permanent members who serve as main characters, and 2 honorary members who are considered Straw Hats, but do not travel with the crew. Netflix’s One Piece wastes no time paving the way for some of these new additions, directly setting up three future members of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Netflix’s One Piece Sets Up Chopper As The Next Straw Hat In Season 2
The next Straw Hat to join Luffy’s crew, according to the original One Piece story, is Chopper – a reindeer that serves as the ship’s doctor. Netflix’s live-action TV show subtly foreshadows his arrival when Zoro is gravely wounded during his duel with Dracule Mihawk, and a forlorn Luffy begins spacing out as Nami and Usopp realize their hurt friend needs a doctor. Heading toward Baratie for assistance, Luffy mutters, “We need a doctor.”
Iñaki Godoy’s character is obviously talking about finding the nearest doctor to help save Zoro here, but the way he zones out suggests Luffy is contemplating how the Straw Hat crew needs a doctor aboard their ship permanently. Zoro’s condition drives home to Luffy how sailing the Grand Line will inevitably mean more injuries to his friends, and not having a doctor among the crew could prove fatal. This storytelling seed directly sets up Luffy asking Chopper to join the Straw Hats as a doctor/emergency food source in One Piece season 2.
One Piece Also Teases Nico Robin & Jinbe (But When Will They Join?)
After Chopper, the next official Straw Hat member according to One Piece canon is Nico Robin, and the Netflix adaptation teases her debut also. Before meeting Luffy, Zoro encounters an agent from Baroque Works – an organization Vice-Admiral Garp also discusses in One Piece season 1. Baroque Works, therefore, looks set to play a major role in One Piece season 2, and since Nico Robin is one of the group’s highest ranking criminals, viewers can expect the future Straw Hat to appear imminently, even if she doesn’t join Luffy right away. Nico Robin aside, the introduction of Baroque Works would also bring Vivi, one of the Straw Hats’ honorary members, into the story.
Finally, Netflix’s One Piece ending teases the newest canon member of the Straw Hat Pirates, the fish-man Jinbe. A riled Arlong mentions Jinbe by name, revealing this mysterious figure’s status as a Warlord of the Sea. No other information or context is provided, and the line acts as little more than an anime Easter egg for the One Piece faithful to enjoy. Nevertheless, One Piece‘s Jinbe shout-out does tease another future crew member who will eventually join Luffy. While Chopper and Nico Robin both look like safe bets to appear in One Piece season 2 thanks to the Netflix series’ overt hints, however, Jinbe is highly unlikely to arrive so soon.
At the show’s current pacing, Jinbe would not physically appear in One Piece until around season 5 of the Netflix adaptation. The fish-man would actually join Luffy’s crew even later, with Jinbe only becoming a fully-fledged crew member around the chapter 1000 mark. Broadly speaking, that would equate to One Piece season 10 or 11 in live-action, should Netflix’s version continue.
One Piece’s Biggest Live-Action Challenge Is Rapidly Approaching
Neither Nico Robin nor Jinbe should pose a huge VFX challenge for One Piece if either of those characters joins Luffy’s crew in season 2 and beyond. The way Netflix adapts Luffy and Buggy’s body-morphing Devil Fruit powers in season 1 suggests Nico Robin’s ability to sprout limbs in random places is perfectly achievable in live-action. Similarly, One Piece season 1 already proved live-action fish-men are possible via Arlong and his minions. Chopper, on the other hand, poses a serious obstacle – one that is rapidly approaching if the talking reindeer is indeed Luffy’s next recruit.
As an anthropomorphic animal who emotes, and stands on hind legs, Tony Tony Chopper will require a significant leap in One Piece‘s CGI. Hollywood is certainly capable of generating fuzzy humanistic animals in live-action, with Detective Pikachu, The Mandalorian, and Guardians of the Galaxy all proving weird-looking cuties can be seamlessly integrated into a real-world setting. The question is whether Netflix’s One Piece budget will be enough to achieve the same level of authenticity and realism for Chopper. A half-baked, ugly-Sonic-style monstrosity would not only ruin Chopper himself, but could damage the Straw Hat dynamic One Piece season 1 worked so hard to establish.
One Piece is currently streaming on Netflix.