One Piece Easter Egg Teases Netflix's Live-Action Straw Hat Grand Fleet
Netflix's "One Piece" is nearly here, translating Eiichiro Oda's legendary anime and manga series to live-action on August 31, 2023. The series itself centers around up and coming pirate Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy), who leads the Straw Hat Pirates and aspires to one day become the greatest pirate in the world.
Although the Netflix series will start at the beginning of Luffy's journey, longtime "One Piece" fans know that Luffy is already well on his way to becoming Pirate King in the manga and anime — even commanding his own "Straw Hat Grand Fleet" that encompasses multiple ships and captains. This Grand Fleet was actually teased in the official trailer for Netflix's "One Piece," where we see a brief glimpse of the wanted poster for future Straw Hat captain "Cavendish of the White Horse."
So attractive that most people faint upon meeting him, Cavendish is the exiled prince of the Bourgeois empire and captain of the Beautiful Pirates. In the manga and anime's Dressrosa Arc, the Beautiful Pirates and several other crews are enslaved by Donquixote Doflamingo, only to be set free by Luffy and the Straw Hats. Following their escape, Cavendish and his crew joined Luffy as the first ship of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, which makes his subtle appearance in the Netflix series' trailer a huge piece of foreshadowing.
Could the Straw Hat Grand Fleet appear earlier than expected?
While Netflix's version of Monkey D. Luffy still has a long way to go before he engages in battle against Donquixote Doflamingo, fans should be on the lookout for any more Easter eggs or cameo appearances by future captains in the Straw Hat Grand Fleet as they watch the show.
In addition to Cavendish and the Beautiful Pirates, the fleet also includes Bartolomeo the Cannibal, captain of the Barto Club and wielder of the Barrier-Barrier Devil Fruit, as well as Ideo, a championship boxer and captain of the Ideo Pirates. Other captains in the fleet include Leo of the Tontatta Pirates, Sai of the Happo Navy, Orlumbus of the Yonta Maria Grand Fleet, and the giant known as Hajrudin.
Like Cavendish, all of these captains and their crews were captured and enslaved during the Dressrosa Arc, only to join the Straw Hat fleet after their escape. Though it's unlikely we'll meet any of these captains before Netflix's "One Piece" hits Dressrosa, Cavendish's wanted poster could be a hint that a few of these characters may debut a bit earlier in the live-action adaptation than they did in the source material.