We’ve seen countless blockbuster-sized TV shows get a little carried away and begin teasing what’s in store for the future before being tossed onto the scrapheap, but the good news is that One Piece secured itself a guaranteed second season just two weeks after premiering, and there’s almost inevitably going to be more to come beyond that.
The producers talking up at least six might be looking a touch too far ahead all things considered, but cinematographer Nicole Hirsch Whitaker has also been name-dropping a pair of the biggest fantastical franchises in the history of entertainment as touchstones, so confidence is clearly not an issue.
One Piece fans bristled previously at comparisons being made to the Wizarding World, but Whitaker’s invocations hold water considering she’s spoken to The Direct about the need to get moving as fast as possible so the series doesn’t end up in the situation of having its core cast age out of their roles.
“Well, they definitely started writing and then the strike happened. For Season 2, there’s just, there’s so much material to be made based on the show. It’s gonna be like Harry Potter though, they’re gonna have to do it fast before everybody gets too old.”
Furthermore, she couldn’t contain her delight at One Piece‘s Rotten Tomatoes score, with a 95 percent approval rating seeing it ranked higher than every single piece of live-action Star Wars content there’s ever been bar Andor, which is no mean feat.
“I was so excited when I saw Rotten Tomatoes. 95 percent. I mean, that’s huge. It’s even higher than Star Wars. It’s amazing. I was really excited.”
One Piece as an IP is a global sensation, something that can’t be denied, but the ball is in Netflix’s court to see if it can transform the adaptation into a cultural juggernaut into something that even approaches the same stratosphere as Star Wars and Harry Potter.