Summary
The live-actionOne Pieceadaptation at Netflix is currently in development for a second season, and the latest casting news from the project has captured some interest as a prominent character is set to be portrayed by a name that fans of DC adaptations will be familiar with.
One Piecehas been a mainstay of the manga and anime scene for decades, with the series by Oda Eiichiro first starting serialization way back in 1997 and carrying on to the present. Over the years, the series has been part of the widely acclaimed “Big Three” of Japanese manga/anime series and outlived its contemporaries while also setting records for time at the top of the charts. Despite this immense popularity, the nature of the series and its length would preclude any attempts at an adaptation until Netflix put up the green light for a live-action adaptation in 2020 after three years of rumination by the IP holders. Despitethe specter of Cowboy Bebop’s cancelation hanging over Netflix’s One Piece, the series would premiere on the streamer in 2023 to massive success.
Sendhil Ramamurthy To Reportedly Play Nefertari Cobra In One Piece Live-Action
With quite a few awesomeevents that could take place in season 2 of Netflix’sOne Piece, fans have been watching out for casting news with high anticipation for clues as to what characters and storylines will be featured and the latest addition to the cast offers a great look at both and a face that might be familiar to some fans of DC shows. As reported byVariety, the talented veteran Sendhil Ramamurthy has been added to the cast ofOne Pieceto take on the role of Nefertari Cobra, King of the desert country of Alabasta and one of the Straw Hat Pirates’ most influential future allies. The inclusion of the character all but confirms that fans will be getting the Alabasta arc, which introduces a bunch of iconic characters and seriously jacks up the stakes of the protagonists’ adventures for the first time in the series.
In addition tofollowing the series’ tradition of perfect castingfor its characters, Ramamurthy might also be familiar to fans of DC’s various adaptations due to his rich backlog of interesting roles. In addition to several movies and roles in acclaimed TV shows likeHeroes, Family Guy, Elementary, Numb3rs, PsychCovert Affairs, CSI: Miami,andThe Office,to name a few, Ramamurthy has played roles in more than one DC project, portraying the villain Bloodwork inThe Flashon CW, the antagonist turned ally Rama onDoom Patrol, and lending his voice toDC Super Hero Girls’version of Ra’s al Ghul in that character’s cameo appearance. Interestingly, Ramamurthy would also work with Marvel great Stan Lee on his seriesStan Lee’s Lucky Man,a British superhero crime drama. In addition to his impressive list of roles and likeness to the character, Ramamurthy also has a degree in history, which might be useful when portraying the leader of the heavily historically inspired Alabasta region.
There are still a lot ofhurdles for theOne Pieceshowrunners to overcomeas the show’s second season begins to take shape, but there’s no indication that spot-on casting and solid hands on the project will be one of those issues. Ramamurthy fits in with the rest of the cast and has a wealth of experience to draw from that indicates he’ll also put up a performance just as solid as the first season’s work. Fans can only wait in anticipation to see what this new addition and the others added on so far have in store for them when the second season hits Netflix.
The 2023 live-action adaptation ofOne Pieceis available to stream on Netflix.
