The co-showrunner of One Piece has addressed a popular fan theory surrounding a potential Season 2 antagonist's appearance in Episode 1 of the Netflix show.
Speaking to IGN (read our full chat here), creator, writer, and co-showrunner Steven Maeda said he's familiar with the theory surrounding Crocodile's potential appearance in the first scene of Season 1, telling fans to read into it what they like.
The opening shows the King of the Pirates' death in Loguetown being watched by many including young versions of characters we meet again later like Shanks and Mihawk. But it also shows some we don't meet, with fans theorising one woman with a gold earing is in fact what would be Season 2's main antagonist Crocodile.
"I have heard that," Maeda told IGN. "I've been approached about that issue before, and all I have to say is, read into it what you like."
While Crocodile is a man in the manga, fans believe the woman featured in the live action is the same character in part because they feature in the same spot in the manga and anime. There are also design similarities, and another popular fan theory actually suggests Crocodile was once a woman, leading to even more speculation.
Netflix included a ton of Easter eggs in One Piece, of course, and while some are meant to be just fun references for fans to find, Maeda did say that others were included as a means of future planning, going as far to point out the opening scene as one example of that.
Anime / Live Action#OnePieceNetflix pic.twitter.com/UUbknxH578
— One Piece Tweets (@onepiecedaiIys) September 1, 2023
"A lot of thought was put into the Easter eggs," he said. "And some of it is future planning, and a lot of it was: 'Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we saw this character?' We know that character was there in the background of, particularly Loguetown at Gold Roger's execution. So a lot of thought was put into bounty posters and seeing characters in the crowd.
"And then also our art department and production designers did a lot of the signage and things that are stencilled onto barrels and shop names and things like that. There was a lot of love and care put into pulling stuff forward so that for fans, they could go: 'Oh, hey, that's really cool.' And some of it is with thought toward the future. Others of it is just a fun thing to do that fans are really going to enjoy."
One Piece premiered on August 28 and achieved 18.5 million views within its first four days, with fans happy to see one of the manga's biggest ongoing gags continued in the show. While there's no official word on more episodes yet, the CEO of One Piece production company Tomorrow Studio said Season 2 could be ready within 18 months of the ongoing strikes ending.
In our 6/10 review, IGN said: "Netflix's One Piece is an entertaining adaptation that's hindered by a desire to recreate every major event found in its source material."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
