Fans Think MrBeast Is Netflix’s Secret Weapon for One Piece Live-Action Season 2

Internet kerosene, meet open flame: MrBeast swapped his X profile pic to Luffy, and shortly after Netflix rolled out the trailer for One Piece live-action Season 2. Cue the theories, the side-eye, and a lot of people doing marketing math on the timeline.

The timing that set everyone off

Here’s what happened: the biggest YouTuber on the planet changes his avatar to the Straw Hat captain; a couple days later, Netflix’s official One Piece account drops the Season 2 trailer. Fans immediately started connecting dots that may or may not exist. One post joked he watched two episodes and flipped his profile pic, another called it a smart marketing move, and a third even suggested the show might have sped up the trailer release to sync with MrBeast, not the other way around. There was also some sarcastic sniping about MrBeast teaming up with One Piece to rake in cash. Classic internet pile-on, with everyone suddenly moonlighting as a PR strategist.

MrBeast says it wasn’t a stunt

MrBeast jumped in to swat the rumor down, saying he finally had time over the holidays to start One Piece and that there’s no secret campaign happening. He also pushed back on the idea he’s faking anime fandom, pointing out he’s watched a ton already.

"Naw, I just finally had time over the holidays to dive into it. Also, I’ve watched countless anime and have prob seen more than 90% of people reading this tweet. Y’all need to stop treating me as a fake anime fan."

If you’ve followed him at all, this tracks. He’s name-checked Attack on Titan as a favorite before and has shouted out other anime over the years. So yes, the timing is suspiciously neat, but the most boring explanation might be the right one: guy starts a mega-popular series during the break, swaps his avatar, and it just happens to line up with Netflix’s rollout. It happens.

The bigger picture: creators are loudly into anime now

Separate from the MrBeast timing chart, 2025 has been full of big creators openly crediting anime for changing their lives. Kai Cenat said Naruto did that for him. iShowSpeed has claimed One Piece saved him. On the celebrity side, Ariana Grande has praised Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, and Megan Fox has talked about being an anime fan. It’s not a niche flex anymore; it’s mainstream clout. That rising tide only helps shows like One Piece get louder launches.

Season 2 basics

• Title: One Piece Live-Action Season 2
• Showrunners/creators: Matt Owens and Steven Maeda
• Original author: Eiichiro Oda
• Producers/Studios: Tomorrow Studios and Netflix
• Release date: March 10, 2026

Bottom line: the internet wants this to be a secret promo handshake because the timing is almost too clean, but MrBeast says it’s just holiday watch-time and a new profile pic. Until proven otherwise, I’m leaning coincidence over conspiracy.

One Piece Live-Action streams exclusively on Netflix.