Netflix Casts Roles For One Piece Live-Action Adaptation

The Cowboy Bebop live-action show is set to hit Netflix in just over a week, and now Netflix has cast its next big anime adaptation, One Piece.

Netflix has cast five core cast members for the upcoming adaptation, and released a series of character posters to help you get to know them all:

• Iñaki Godoy (Go, Youth!, Who Killed Sara?) will play star protagonist Luffy D. Monkey
• Mackenyu (Ruroni Kenshin: Final Chapter, Pacific Rim: Uprising) will play Zoro
• Emily Rudd (Fear Street, Hunters) will play Nami
• Jacob Romero Gibson (Greeleaf, All Rise) will play Usopp
• Taz Skylar (Boiling Point, Villain) will play Sanji

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All five characters are members of the Straw Hat Pirates, the heroes of the long-running series, which is up to 1000 chapters of manga and 998 episodes of anime. Yes, 998 episodes, which comes out to something like 270 hours even if you skip the anime's opening and ending themes. And that doesn't count the 14 animated films. Netflix's series, meanwhile, has a 10-episode order.

"We've been working with Netflix and Tomorrow Studios on the massive project that is the Hollywood live-action series adaptation of 'One Piece!' How many years has it been since it was announced, right? I know, I know! But rest assured we've been making steady progress all along," said manga author Eiichiro Oda in an official statement. "It's not easy when you're working with people from different cultures! But it's precisely that process that can yield something special!"

"For now, we're able to announce the main cast! Rather, we need to hurry and announce it or else it'll be leaked, apparently! Hilarious, lol," Oda continued. "Their face, the size of their mouths and hands, their aura, the way they carry themselves, their voice, their acting skills, their height, the balance amongst the Straw Hat Crew, etc…! We decided on this cast after numerous discussions involving people around the world! These are the people who will be our Straw Hat Pirates! It'll take a bit more time to get this show done, but we'll continue to do our best to deliver a show that we're confident will be enjoyed by everyone around the world! Look forward to more updates in the future!"

Steve Maeda will act as showrunner for One Piece, and will co-write and executive producer alongside Matt Owens. Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios are executive producing, as is original One Piece manga author Oda.

Netflix has not yet set a release window for the One Piece live-action adaptation.