David Dastmalchian Says One Piece Season 2 Nails Mr. 3 — Proof Netflix Is All-In on Oda’s World

Netflix is deep into One Piece season 2, and David Dastmalchian is clearly having the time of his life playing the new big bad. He tells GamesRadar+ the live-action series is being made by people who actually love this world, and it shows. Also, he might be underselling how weird his character is. In a good way.

"The magic you see when you watch the live-action One Piece is because the people making it are so dedicated to Oda's world and these characters. They felt like a family — we even did game nights — and everyone loved working on the show."

Meet Mr. 3, Dastmalchian's season 2 villain

• Origins: Mr. 3 debuted in the manga in Chapter 117 and in the anime in Episode 70.
• Resume: He was an officer agent for the Baroque Works crime syndicate.
• Powers: He ate a Devil Fruit (like Luffy) that lets him control candle wax and shape it into anything — including eerily lifelike human copies. His hair is styled as the number 3 and can literally spit fire.
• Vibe: Tea-sipping sadist with a flair for theatrics. Dastmalchian calls him dark, twisted, eccentric, and a blast to play.
• First look: No full character photo yet, but we did get a teaser shot of his fingernails — wax dripping off the tips — because of course we did.

Little Garden, but make it extra

Dastmalchian says the production went big on Little Garden — the prehistoric island arc — and you can tell from the first proper set reveal. Netflix just dropped a photo of Mr. 3's house, and it is a serious glow-up from the source material. In the manga and anime, his place is basically a white cube with some wax drips. Functional, but kind of bland for a guy this theatrical. The live-action version is a full-on wax villa, with window curtains and a little chimney, tucked into Little Garden like an eccentric retreat. It fits the character so much better.

Why this adaptation seems to be working

Dastmalchian is blunt about how tricky anime-to-live-action can be, but says this team cracked it by leaning into what makes One Piece tick in the first place. They start with Eiichiro Oda's manga, filter in what worked in the anime, and build the live-action from that DNA — not the other way around. Combine that with a cast and crew that hung out off set (he mentions game nights with Straw Hats and villains together) and you get the 'labor of love' vibe he keeps talking about.

So when is season 2 actually coming?

Dastmalchian says he doesn't know the exact date, just that it feels soon. Officially, Netflix has One Piece season 2 arriving in 2026. In the meantime, consider this your warning: Mr. 3 is coming, and he brought a very fancy wax house with him.