One Piece has cast Joe Manganiello and Lera Abova in key roles for season 2

Production on the second season of Netflix's One Piece is in full swing, with filming currently underway in South Africa and the hype train building momentum. One Piece stands as one of the rare live-action manga adaptations that won over longtime fans and newcomers alike, perfectly capturing the fun, optimistic vibe of the long-running manga by Eiichiro Oda. When last we saw Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and his misfit crew of pirates, they were just setting out for the Grand Line in their quest to find the legendary One Piece treasure. Suffice to say, the anticipation is sky high for season 2.

And now, we've got some exciting new One Piece updates! According to What's On Netflix, both Joe Mangiello (True Blood) and Lera Abova (Anna) have joined the cast of the series for its second season. This news came directly from Netflix's Tudum site, which republished a preview for season 2 this week that included the new cast members. Their names have since been removed from the Tudum article, but the internet remembers!

We also know who they'll be playing! Mangiello is set to appear as Mr. 0, aka Crocodile, one of the seven Pirate Warlords of the Sea. A huge part of Luffy's journey to become the next king of the pirates involves facing off with most of those warlords, so expect Mangiello to be a pretty sizable antagonist in season 2.

As for Abova, she's slated to play Miss All Sunday aka Nico Robin, a new member of the Straw Hat crew who serves as their archeologist in the manga. With the Straw Hat crew growing in season 2, it'll be very exciting to see how some of the dynamic on the Going Merry evolves with a bunch of big new personalities.

What's On Netflix notes that these casting announcements were likely meant to be part of Netflix's Geeked Week celebration; Mangiello is even one of the hosts of the event. So it sounds like this info got put up a little early on Tudum, but it's no less exciting for it! Hopefully we get a loud, proud, official announcement about it soon.

One Piece took both viewers and critics by storm when it premiered in 2023. Given its popularity, it's no surprise that the cast is expanding and adding a ton of solid new actors to the ranks. Mangiello and Abova are the latest, but there are plenty of others who've been announced in the past few months, including Katey Segal as Dr. Kureha, Mark Harelik as Dr. Hiriluk, 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, and Werner Coetser as Dorry. And all that's in addition to the return of season 1 stars Godoy, Mackenyu (Zoro), Emily Rudd (Nami), Jacob Romero (Usopp) and Taz Skylar (Sanji), and Jeff Ward (Buggy the Clown). It's going to be a very full ship for One Piece next season!

One Piece season 2 is currently filming in South Africa. It's expected to premiere on Netflix sometime in 2025.

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