One Piece Live Action season 2 new staff list shows changes in showrunners

Modified Apr 13, 2024 01:35 GMT

One Piece Live Action season 2 new staff list shows changes in showrunners (Image via Netflix)

Friday, April 12, 2024 saw some intriguing news revealed regarding the production of the One Piece Live Action season 2, the sequel to Netflix’s incredibly successful adaptation of creator Eiichiro Oda’s original manga series. Per the production’s latest staff list, sourced via the official Writer’s Guild of America website, it seems that beloved season 1 staff member Steven Maeda has been removed from his role of showrunner for season 2.

More specifically, Maeda’s name no longer appears anywhere in the One Piece Live Action season 2 staff credits, as per the latest list from the official Writer’s Guild of America website. Joe Tracz is set to replace Maeda in both his Showrunner and Executive Producer roles from season 1.

Given that the team behind One Piece Live Action season 2 news has made no announcement regarding Maeda, it’s likewise unknown why he was removed from the production. Especially intriguing is that Matt Owens, who was credited as a Showrunner in various interview materials from the first season, is returning to production as both showrunner and executive producer.

One Piece Live Action season 2 changes one of its two showrunners from season 1

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Owens’ return to the production in his Showrunner and Executive Producer roles likely suggests that fans have nothing to worry about for One Piece Live Action season 2. While Maeda’s departure is nevertheless concerning, Owens remaining with the series suggests that the heart of what fans loved about season 1 will still remain in the new season.

Likewise, Tracz’s prior track record to his joining the production also suggests that fans can rest assured regarding the production quality of the second season. Tracz’s latest credit, excluding the Netflix series in question, is the Disney+ smash-hit, Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, for which he wrote two different episodes. Notable credits prior to this include Netflix’s 2017 A Series of Unfortunate Events program, for which he was also a writer.

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Outside of the swap of Maeda for Tracz, the season 2 staff is largely the same, as the first season’s. The most notable new names are those going into roles that season 1 staff members have seemingly been promoted out of. For example, current season 2 credits see Alex Regnery replace Tom Hyndman in the latter’s season 1 role of Staff Writer, while Hyndman is credited as a Producer for season 2.

As mentioned above, One Piece Live Action season 2 serves as the continuation of the live-action adaptation of author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda’s original manga series of the same name. Oda’s original manga first debuted in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump publication in July 1997, where it is still ongoing but in its Final Saga. A television anime adaptation from Toei Animation began in October 1999, and is still ongoing today.

The anime series was also announced as receiving a remake from Wit Studio, the creators behind such popular series as Attack on Titan, Spy x Family, and more. The remake is officially titled THE ONE PIECE, and has a teaser trailer out now. Unfortunately, no other information on the remake is available as of this article's writing.