Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: geeked week, one piece

One Piece: Joe Manganiello, Xolo Maridueña & Those Geeked Week Rumors

Netflix gave One Piece fans a whole lot to read into by having Joe Manganiello hosting and Xolo Maridueña's role (so far) in Geeked Week.

As we see it, one of two things is going to happen. Netflix's Geeked Week pays off a few weeks of teasing fans of Showrunners Joe Tracz & Matt Owens, Netflix, Tomorrow Studios, and Shueisha's live-action series adaptation of manga creator and series consultant Eiichiro Oda's One Piece big time – or Netflix's Geeked Week pulls off one of the best "geek swerves" ever (one that we would definitely have to respect). You know how fan-casting goes, right? In terms of casting the hit series, there are two names that have been rumbling pretty loudly over the past few months. Joe Manganiello (Peacock's Deal or No Deal Island and A+ geek) as "Desert King" Sir Crocodile and Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai, Blue Beetle) as Portgas D. Ace – sworn older brother to Iñaki Godoy's Monkey D. Luffy.

So, guess who's hosting the big live event on Thursday that Netflix is having to wrap up Geeked Week? Yup, Manganiello – and as we learned from Stranger Things and Linda Hamilton, Netflix doesn't mind dropping big casting news live and in the moment. As for Maridueña – seriously? The streamer had Maridueña and Godoy teaming up on the set of Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg's Ralph Macchio and William Zabka-starring Cobra Kai to pull off a stunt fight – striking poses together that reminded a whole lot of folks of something that they'd seen before. Hmmm… but could we be wrong? Sure – and if we are, sorry for putting some hope out there. With that said, the show has already impressed over the past few months with its casting announcements so whatever else we learn this week, we're sure it will get fans excited.

In July, Tomorrow Studios President Becky Clements shared some important production and casting updates for the second season. In terms of production, Clements notes that they are in their third week (at the time of the interview) – with filming set to run "into December." As for when the season will be completely finished and ready to hit screens, fans are going to have to be patient – with Clements adding, "This is a very VFX-heavy year, so it's going to be a while. We are a long time out."

In terms of the most recent casting rounds that confirmed Smoker, Brogy, No. 5, No. 9, No. 3, and other characters joining the series, Clements noted that the names of the characters should give fans "a pretty good idea of what we're covering in this season, if you look at the chapters." The Tomorrow Studios president added, "[Showrunner] Matt [Owens] and Joe Tracz, who's our new co-showrunner, are great partners, very aligned in all aspects of the series. They have it all mapped out, and Oda has been very involved again this season, so that's been great."

From there, we have some other updates that we're going to offer with some quick points:

Clement Confirms Multiple Seasons Still The Plan: In response to previous comments that they have enough source material for at least six seasons: "We have those plans. Matt Owens has it in his head, it's just a matter of our partners who've been amazing, wanting to keep moving forward, but we are creatively prepared, I'll say that."

Does That Mean Six Seasons? "We have multiple seasons that we can talk about": Clements

Good News/Bad News Regarding Jamie Lee Curtis & Doctor Kureha: Clements reveals that Jamie Lee Curtis' busy work schedule and the production schedule for Season 2 couldn't match up. "She [Jamie Lee Curtis] loves the show. She has too many films and TV shows that she's going into production on so our production dates aren't going to work. She definitely wanted to do it but she's got deals in first position, and it just became complicated." But it look like they've locked in someone else for the role – with Clement teasing, "We have found an amazing person."

Joining the second season are Brendan Sean Murray as Brogy, Callum Kerr as Smoker, Camrus Johnson as Mr. 5, Clive Russell as Crocus, Daniel Lasker as Mr. 9, David Dastmalchian as Mr. 3, Jazzara Jaslyn as Miss Valentine, Julia Rehwald as Tashigi, Rob Colletti as Wapol, Ty Keogh as Dalton, Werner Coetser as Dorry, Katey Sagal as Dr. Kureha, Mark Harelik as Dr. Hiriluk, Sendhil Ramamurthy as Nefertari Cobra, and Charithra Chandran (Bridgerton, Alex Rider) as Miss Wednesday.

One Piece: Monkey D. Luffy's Birthday Video Teases Mr. 3

Godoy had much more on his mind than just offering "the greatest, coolest, and most inspiring pirate to ever sail the Grand Line" birthday wishes back in May – as we've now learned officially. Check out the cake in the video below… and how it looks like a candle… and then we have the "3" at the top that Godoy lights – before giving us a sly smile. Of course, that has to mean that we're getting "Loan Shark" Galdino, aka Mr. 3 (former officer agent of Baroque Works – alongside partner Miss Goldenweek – and the main antagonist of the "Little Garden Arc") for the second season. After eating the Doru Doru no Mi Devil Fruit, Mr. 3 develops the ability to create & control wax.

Netflix's One Piece Season 1 starred Iñaki Godoy (Who Killed Sara?) as Monkey D. Luffy, Peter Gadiot (Yellowjackets) as Shanks, Mackenyu (Ruroni Kenshin: Final Chapter) as Rornoa Zoro, Emily Rudd (Fear Street) as Nami, Jacob Romero Gibson (All Rise) as Usopp, Taz Skylar (Boiling Point) as Sanji, Morgan Davies (The Evil Dead) as Koby, Ilia Isorelýs Paulino (The Sex Lives of College Girls) as Alvida, Aidan Scott (Action Point) as Helmeppo, Jeff Ward (Hacks) as Buggy, McKinley Belcher III (Ozark) as Arlong, Vincent Regan (Troy) as Garp, Langley Kirkwood as Captain Morgan, Celeste Loots as Kaya, Alexander Maniatis as Klahadore, Craig Fairbrass as Chef Zeff, Steven Ward as Mihawk, and Chioma Umeala as Nojiko.

Owens & Tracz will serve as writers, co-showrunners, and executive producers for the second season – with Oda and Maeda also executive-producing alongside Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios, Tetsu Fujimura, and Chris Symes.

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