Eiichiro Oda’s Gift to Johnny Depp Could Inspire One Piece’s Next Iconic Pirate

Johnny Depp got a very on-brand surprise at Tokyo Comic Con 2025, and One Piece fans immediately did what they do best: connect every dot on the corkboard and start theorizing.

What actually happened in Tokyo

• Depp appeared on the special stage at Tokyo Comic Con 2025 alongside Hiroaki Hirata, the Japanese voice of Sanji in One Piece and Depp’s longtime dubbing actor for roles like Jack Sparrow.
• On stage, Hirata handed Depp a noren curtain featuring a One Piece-style illustration of Jack Sparrow. The kicker: it was drawn by Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece.
• Hirata framed it as a seasonal gesture and a nod to a traditional theater custom.

Hirata called it an "early Christmas gift" and explained that noren are traditionally given to kabuki actors and stage performers. He teased the artist as "a guy I know who draws pirate manga a lot" — which is basically saying "it’s Oda" without saying it.

Depp was clearly thrilled and, according to the onstage chatter, looked about two seconds away from wrapping himself in the thing. The internet promptly exploded, because of course it did.

Why fans are flipping out

This isn’t the first time One Piece watchers have seen something that felt a little Jack Sparrow-ish. There’s a brief moment in the series that shows members of Rocks D. Xebec’s crew, and one shadowy figure had a silhouette that some fans thought looked suspiciously like the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean. The theory resurfaced again on December 7, 2025, when a tweet captioned 'The lurking Legend' made the rounds and reignited that old screenshot sleuthing.

Now toss in a hand-drawn gift from Oda to the actual Johnny Depp, presented by Depp’s own Japanese voice actor, and you get a perfect rumor cocktail. Does it mean Jack Sparrow is joining the One Piece world? Realistically, no. Jack Sparrow is a Disney character, and that kind of crossover is about as likely as Buggy calmly paying his taxes. But it’s a fun what-if, and the timing is catnip for speculation.

The more plausible read: inspiration, not a crossover

If you want a grounded theory, there’s a character in One Piece known as the Man Marked by Flames. He’s a huge mystery in the series, and fans have long noted some parallels with Depp’s Sparrow:

- The Man Marked by Flames reportedly sails a pitch-black ship, which naturally reminds people of Jack’s Black Pearl.

- In-world characters talk about him like a legend you’re not entirely sure is real, which is very Pirates of the Caribbean-coded. That mythic, whispered-about vibe overlaps nicely.

None of this means Sparrow will ever pop up in the manga or anime. But it does suggest Oda and the series have absorbed a little of that swaggering, folklore-pirate energy that Depp made mainstream. And that noren is a cheeky, very Oda way to tip the hat back.

Bottom line

Johnny Depp got a custom One Piece-style Jack Sparrow noren from Eiichiro Oda, delivered by Sanji’s voice actor and Depp’s Japanese dub voice, Hiroaki Hirata. It was presented as an early Christmas gift with a traditional theater twist, and Depp loved it. Fans immediately revived an old theory about Sparrow sneaking into One Piece canon, which is almost certainly not happening, but the influence conversation makes sense — especially when you look at the Man Marked by Flames and his ominous black ship.

Want to revisit the clues yourself? One Piece is streaming on Crunchyroll.