Photo by Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures – © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Netflix has confirmed that actor Xolo Maridueña will play the role of Portgas D. Ace in the third season of One Piece, which is set to go into production later this year in Cape Town, South Africa. Also joining the cast will be Cole Escola, playing Bon Clay.
In 2023, Maridueña broke new ground when he played the leading character in Blue Beetle, becoming the first Latino superhero in a live-action DC film. He also starred on all six seasons of Netflix’s hit series Cobra Kai.
Produced by Tomorrow Studios in partnership with ITV Studios, One Piece was created in tandem with Shueisha. The live-action series, created by Eiichiro Oda, follows Monkey D. Luffy and his crew as they set sail to find a legendary treasure that will make him the King of the Pirates. Starring in the series are Iñaki Godoy as Luffy, Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero as Usopp and Taz Skylar as Sanji.
Portgas D. Ace is Monkey D. Luffy’s adopted elder brother and son of the late Pirate King Gol D. Roger. Earlier, he had been one of the Whitebread Pirates and captained the Spade Pirates.
Season 2 of the series (One Piece: Into the Grand Line), which was renewed in August. will make its debut on March 10, 2026. Also being introduced in Season 2 are Mikaela Hoover as the voice of the blue-nosed reindeer-boy Tony Tony Chopper, and Charithra Chandran as the mysterious Miss Wednesday.
Ian Stokes and Joe Tracz will be co-showrunners, writers, and executive producers for Season 3 of One Piece. Also serving as executive producers will be Eiichiro Oda, Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, Tetsu Fujimura, Chris Symes, Christoph Schrewe, and Steven Maeda.
Maridueña will next appear with Leah Lewis in Dog Years, an indie romance written and directed by Mary Bronaugh.