All it took was a drawing of a man with a fish head – Eiichiro Oda — and a transponder snail saying “pero pero,” and every single imaginable One Piece fan knew what was coming: a renewal for the second season of the live-action. Whether you loved it or hated it, you now have to accept that the live-action is here to stay – perhaps, for far longer than you might have anticipated.
To everyone’s surprise, season one was far more successful than anyone might have expected and even if the story did deviate from its canon events, it also nailed many other aspects of One Piece – especially regarding its antagonists. Who knew Buggy could be so unsettling? I for one, cannot wait to see him again. Will he show up again, though? Let’s go over the villains that we will most likely see in the second season of One Piece.
Buggy and Alvida
During the first season, we see the two first antagonists joining hands to take down the Straw Hats and steal the map for Grand Line. That means that we will undoubtedly see them back again for the second season. Considering how popular Jeff Ward’s rendition of the killer clown was, his future appearance comes off as no surprise, but in the end, we can expect to see a lot more of Buggy in the story as it goes on.
Smoker
Although we caught a glimpse of Smoker in the first season finale, we haven’t yet met the Marine in the live-action — which was quite the creative deviation from the original storyline. Immediately setting the stage for the second season, it is safe to say that we’ll see him at last, likely accompanied by Tashigi, even if he’s not necessarily a villain, we can categorize him as an antagonist nonetheless.
Wapol
The first villain that we’ll likely be introduced to in the second season will undoubtedly be Wapol. Even if the story does not reach Alabasta, season two will surely cover the Drum Island arc, and our protagonists will have to face Wapol for the first time. Considering his weird design, I, for one, am incredibly excited to see how they’ll make his weirdly shaped body, and most of all, his gigantic mouth capable of eating virtually anything.
Baroque Works
Again, Baroque Works truly only gets a dedicated arc in Alabasta, but until then, we meet plenty of its members before reaching the arc. We’ve met Mr.7 in season one already, as he tried to recruit Zoro to join the Baroque Works. Even if we don’t get to Alabasta, Mr.3 and Miss Wednesday will surely make their live-action debut soon since their first appearance traces back to Reverse Mountain arc and Little Garden. Perhaps even Mr. 2 (fingers crossed!)
Garp
Garp’s role as an antagonist can surely be debated. If you ask any One Piece fan if he’s a villain, you’ll be faced with plenty of “no’s” and lots of reluctance, which in my opinion – is very fair. But one of the many creative liberties the live-action took was to make Garp a sort of antagonist that is far more reminiscent of someone like Akainu. Details aside, you can expect Garp to return for sure, though hopefully, a lot more lighthearted.
Crocodile and Miss All Sunday
We can’t say for sure whether Crocodile and Robin will appear in season two or not. After all, considering the live-action’s fast pacing, it is almost impossible to predict exactly which arcs they’ll be able to condense into eight episodes. In whichever the case may be, I suspect that if they do not get to Alabasta, the duo will at least appear in the last episode to create suspense surrounding a possible third season in the future.
Blackbeard
Similarly to Crocodile, I doubt we’ll get to Jaya to the point where we finally meet Blackbeard, however, his character is first mentioned back in Drum Island, after Dalton reveals Wapol left his kingdom after the Blackbeard Pirates took over it. Again, I can’t predict the pacing of the anime, but maybe they can even squeeze in a flashback showing Blackbeard – who knows?
As for any possible villainous returns in the future, if the live-action does follow the original story, I have bad news to bring you: Arlong will not come back, but this will hardly be the last time we’ll meet the fishmen. Kuro and Ax Hand Morgan also had their last moments on the live-action screen.