One Piece, Netflix's live-action adaptation of the phenomenally successful manga by Eiichiro Oda, beat the odds back in 2023 to become the rare manga-to-live-action TV show that didn't absolutely embarrass itself; Netflix especially has an iffy track record with that kind of thing. Now that the second season has finished filming, co-showrunner Matt Owens has announced that he is leaving the series, at least for now.
“The last 6 years working on the live action One Piece have been a life changing journey," Owens wrote on his Instagram. "A dream come true. It’s also been A LOT. So I’m stepping off the Going Merry to take a break and focus on myself and my mental health.”
You can probably tell from context, by the Going Merry is the pirate ship on which Monkey D. Luffy and his crew sail the seas, in search of the famed One Piece treasure. "For now I'm going to take a break, do some therapy, try and rank up in Marvel Rivals, and come back refreshed for the new adventures that await," Owens continued.
Before he worked on One Piece, Owens had already worked on Netflix series like Luke Cage and The Defenders. Managing a huge, complex show like One Piece has got to be incredibly stressful, so I hope Owens enjoys his downtime. In the meanwhile, co-showrunner Joe Tracz will manage things; we have yet to see whether they'll hire someone else to replace Owens.
Or maybe they'll just wait for him to recuperate. One Piece is a famously enormous story; an anime series based on the manga has produced over 1,000 episodes and they're not done. If there's demand for it, Netflix could be making this live-action series for a very long time. Maybe Owens will just take a break during season 3 and come back for season 4.
Showrunners have left series in the middle before. Avatar: The Last Airbender is yet another anime-to-live-action TV series on Netflix; showrunner Albert Kim left after the first season. Miguel Sapochnik, the co-showrunner on House of the Dragon, left after the first season of that Game of Thrones prequel show. Severance showrunner Mark Friedman left after the first season of that show, and the second season turned out great. Reportedly, Friedman left because he and co-showrunner Dan Erickson hated each other. At least Owens' exit seems reasonably and healthy.
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