Netflix Teases A Fan Favorite Villain In New One Piece Video
Netflix has released a new video featuring I?aki Godoy celebrating Monkey D. Luffy’s – the character he plays in the live-action One Piece series – birthday. That’s reason enough to celebrate, but the video all but confirms at least one villain set to appear in One Piece season 2, which is even more exciting.
The video, released on Netflix’s social channels, shows I?aki Godoy carrying a curious looking cake into frame, and then announcing very excitedly that it was Luffy’s birthday, May 5.
“Today is a very special day, because guess what?” Godoy says. “It’s Monkey D. Luffy’s birthday. That’s right!”
Godoy says that we’re celebrating Luffy’s birthday with a cake that looks suspiciously like a half-melted candle. He then thanks Luffy for not only having an impact on his life – skyrocketing the 20-year-old actor to overnight stardom – but on others' lives too.
It’s May 5th, NAKAMA! ?? Join our captain @InakiGodoy in celebrating the greatest, coolest, and most inspiring pirate to ever sail the Grand Line. Happy B-B-B-B-Birthday, Monkey D. Luffy! ????? pic.twitter.com/e0BLcFGklE
— ONE PIECE(ワンピース) Netflix (@onepiecenetflix) May 5, 2024
“Luffy, thank you so much for everything that you have done for me, and many others around the world,” Godoy continues. “You make us happy, you inspire us to follow our dreams, and you’re just the coolest pirate captain ever. I am so happy to be a part of your journey.”
He then lights a wick on the top of the candle cake, and immediately blows it out. A camera zoom reveals something quite incredible — the wick is in the shape of a 3. After the Netflix title card, Godoy comes back into frame and says that fans are going to lose their minds.
He’s not wrong, too, because this basically confirms a fan favorite villain, Mr. 3, whose powers allow him to manipulate and create candle wax, explaining the candle cake. He also sports a hairstyle in the shape of a 3, very similar to the wick on the candle cake, which was a nice touch.
So why is Mr. 3 such a big deal? Well, it means that we’ll see the villain in season 2 of One Piece, in a likely adaptation of the Little Garden Arc. It’s not a particularly long arc in the manga or the anime, but there’s a bit of a storied history when it comes to the Little Garden Arc in One Piece adaptations.
Notably, when 4Kids originally adapted the series for America in the early 2000s, it skipped over this arc entirely, something that would have had major ramifications had the series continued under 4Kids. The now-defunct localization company also cut out some other important episodes, so fans are pretty excited that it seems like Netflix won’t be skimping on the important stuff.
Netflix’s live-action One Piece series was confirmed to be getting a second season late last year, shortly after the first season ended (and importantly, shortly after the SAG-AFTRA strike came to an end). One Piece season 2 plans were revealed by producer Matt Owens in an interview after the second season was confirmed, and said that we’re going to see a “very powerful, very driven marine as a major antagonist.” We know who that is – it’s not Mr 3. – but we’ll let you find that out yourself.
No release date or window has been set by Netflix for One Piece season 2, but we did hear that a brand-new One Piece anime adaptation was in the works for Netflix too, with Spy x Family animator WIT Studio heading up the series.
