The Straw Hat crew is getting ready for their biggest adventure yet. Taz Skylar, who plays the suave cook Sanji in Netflix’s One Piece, has given fans a exciting update about the upcoming third season. And according to him, what the production team is trying to pull off is something television has never seen before.
The live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s beloved manga has been sailing strong since its first season dropped in 2023. With Season 2 now streaming on Netflix as of March 10, 2026, viewers are already looking ahead to what comes next. The good news? Season 3 was confirmed way back in August 2025, and filming has been underway in Cape Town, South Africa since November 2025 .
What Taz Skylar Said About The Massive Scale Of Season 3
In a recent social media post that got fans talking, Taz Skylar shared his thoughts about what the production team is building for the next chapter. The actor didn’t hold back his excitement about the ambitious plans for the show.
“This season is wild. The whole production is really attempting to do something that I don’t think has ever been done on TV before. The scale is immense. The sets are enormous, the action exponentialized, and all of us in the cast are somehow even closer than I think we’ve ever been,” Skylar shared on social media .
The actor’s words carry weight considering how Season 2 already raised the bar with its production values. According to reports, the second season required 1,400 experts working together with two filming units operating at the same time . The challenge was bringing the whimsical world of Oda’s manga to life while keeping the high-budget technical standards intact.
Iñaki Godoy, who plays Monkey D. Luffy, has also been hyping up what’s coming. In a recent interview, he joked that the upcoming season would be “epic, huge, the best TV season worldwide” and would “win all the Emmys, Grammys – and go viral” . While he was clearly having fun with the prediction, the enthusiasm from the cast shows how confident they feel about the material they’re shooting.
Why Season 3 Is Such A Big Deal For The Production Team
The reason for all this excitement comes down to one thing: the Alabasta Arc. Season 3 is expected to adapt this fan-favorite storyline from the manga, which is massive in scope and scale . Unlike previous seasons that moved between multiple islands, the third season will focus mainly on the desert kingdom of Alabasta and its civil war.
This means viewers can expect huge battle sequences, elaborate sand-covered sets, and the introduction of the Baroque Works organization in full force. Joe Manganiello plays Crocodile (Mr. 0), the leader of this criminal group, and has been promoted to a series regular for the upcoming season . Lera Abova as Nico Robin (Miss All Sunday) and Sendhil Ramamurthy as King Nefertari Cobra have also been upped to regulars .
The production team behind the scenes has been working hard to make sure everything looks right. The “Good Whale Hunting” episode from Season 2, which showed the crew inside the giant whale Laboon, required 15 nights of filming using both practical sets and complex visual effects . If that was the challenge for one episode, imagine what an entire season centered on a desert war zone will demand.
New Cast Members Joining The Straw Hats For Season 3
Part of the reason the scale feels so big is the number of new characters joining the live-action world. Netflix has lined up some exciting names for Season 3.
Xolo Maridueña, known for his lead role in Cobra Kai and Blue Beetle, has been cast as Portgas D. Ace, Luffy’s older brother . This character is hugely important in the One Piece universe, and his introduction will start setting up storylines that pay off much later in the series.
Tony Award-winning creator Cole Escola will appear as Bon Clay (Mr. 2) , the theatrical and flamboyant assassin who becomes both an enemy and a friend to the Straw Hats . Other confirmed additions include Awdo Awdo as Mr. 1 and Daisy Head as Miss Doublefinger .
These new faces will join the returning Straw Hat crew: Iñaki Godoy (Luffy) , Mackenyu (Zoro) , Emily Rudd (Nami) , Jacob Romero Gibson (Usopp) , and Taz Skylar (Sanji) . Mikaela Hoover, who voices Tony Tony Chopper, has also been promoted to series regular, meaning the adorable reindeer doctor will have an even bigger role moving forward .
What The Story Will Cover In The Next Season
While Netflix hasn’t shared official plot details, the end of Season 2 set things up nicely for what comes next. The Straw Hats discovered more about the Baroque Works organization and their plot to take over the kingdom of Alabasta .
Season 3 is expected to adapt chapters 155-217 from the manga, which covers the entire Alabasta saga . This means viewers will see Luffy face off against Crocodile multiple times, Zoro battle the assassin Mr. 1, and Sanji fight Bon Clay in some of the series’ most memorable confrontations.
The story also introduces the search for Marshall D. Teach (Blackbeard) , a character who becomes extremely important in later arcs . With Ace hunting for him, the show is planting seeds for conflicts that could span multiple future seasons.
How The Cast And Crew Are Bringing The Manga To Life
The people making One Piece have something special going for them: the direct involvement of the manga’s creator. Eiichiro Oda serves as an executive producer and regularly visits the set in Cape Town . Both Skylar and Godoy have spoken warmly about their interactions with him.
“He’s an incredibly cool guy,” Godoy said in a recent interview. “Oda trusts us, he believes in us and supports us wherever he can. Plus, he’s just a really entertaining person” . During one set visit, Oda even handed out handmade Japanese good luck charms with Luffy’s face to the entire crew .
This level of creator involvement is rare in adaptations and helps explain why the show has connected so well with both longtime fans and newcomers. Season 1 holds an 8.3 rating on IMDb and 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, numbers that most live-action anime adaptations can only dream of .
When Viewers Can Expect To See Season 3
Netflix hasn’t announced a release date yet, but production timelines give us some clues. Season 1 filmed in early 2022 and premiered in August 2023. Season 2 shot from June 2024 and arrived in March 2026 .
With filming for Season 3 starting in November 2025 and expected to continue through June 2026, a reasonable guess would put the premiere somewhere in mid to late 2027 . The heavy CGI work required for Devil Fruit powers and large-scale battles means post-production will take time.
The good news is that fans won’t have to wait as long between Seasons 2 and 3 as they did between 1 and 2. Netflix’s early renewal and quick start on production show they’re committed to keeping the momentum going . As one fan commented online, “Thank God this time the production starts so soon. Would be a shame to wait 3 years between each season”.
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What This Means For The Future Of The Series
One Piece on Netflix is clearly being treated as a long-term project. Reports suggest the series has covered less than 15% of the original source material so far . With the infrastructure built in Cape Town and the experienced production team in place, Netflix seems ready to turn this into their next major franchise.
The streaming giant is also developing The One Piece, an animated remake of the story created with one of the studios behind early Attack on Titan seasons . Meanwhile, the original manga by Eiichiro Oda continues releasing new chapters, with One Piece 1177 scheduled for March 22, 2026 .
For fans who’ve already finished Season 2, both Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on Netflix worldwide . The anime adaptation continues on Crunchyroll and other platforms, with the Elbaph arc set to begin in April 2026 .
Taz Skylar’s comments about Season 3 attempting something never done on television might sound like typical actor hype. But given what the production pulled off in Season 2 with Chopper’s CGI and the Laboon sequences, maybe he’s not exaggerating. The Alabasta Arc deserves a grand treatment, and everything points to Netflix giving it exactly that.
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