One Piece. Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy in season 2 of One Piece. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
We’re currently waiting for Season 3 of Netflix’s live-action One Piece adaptation, which recently wrapped up its main production in South Africa. But even with a long post-production road ahead for the third outing, the ever-watchful fandom has begun piecing together clues that a Season 4 renewal might already be in the bag.
If you’ve been keeping an eye on the One Piece live-action community over on Reddit (specifically r/OnePieceLiveAction) or the big Discord channel for the show, you’ll know that the sleuthing never stops. Over the past few weeks, a growing mountain of evidence has convinced fans that Netflix and Eiichiro Oda have already secretly greenlit the show’s fourth season. They wouldn’t be barking entirely up the wrong tree given that Season 3 was very much in the works before Netflix officially announced, and indeed, Season 3 is definitely not being set up to be the final season.
Here is a breakdown of why fans think Season 4 is already happening, and when we might actually hear about it.
Stunt Performers Point to a Cape Town Return
The biggest clue that recently set the subreddit ablaze comes straight from the stunt team.
On July 2nd, a fan spotted an Instagram story from David Cannan—who primarily serves as the stunt double for Heavy Point Chopper—featuring his fellow stunt performer Luisfe. Luisfe was celebrating his return home after an exhausting eight months of filming Season 3. However, the key takeaway was a massive hint that Luisfe is already booked to return to South Africa next year to film “something.”
That’s in addition to Mackenyu’s personal trainer, who liked a comment (the only one liked) on IG mentioning prep for Season 4 (which was eventually removed after fans piled in, taking it as Season 4 confirmation).
Given that South Africa is the primary filming hub for the live-action One Piece at Cape Town Film Studios, fans quickly connected the dots. As Reddit user No_Cash_516 pointed out a few days later, several actors and other production members have allegedly been dropping hints about returning to Cape Town next year. If the crew is already making travel plans for 2027, it strongly suggests that pre-production for Season 4 is moving forward behind the scenes.
Less compelling is Lera Abova’s wrap-up post for Season 3 has also been construed as meaning that there are already intentions to head back to filming, with an Instagram post reading: “Farewell for now, my greatest companion through thick and thin, @onepiecenetflix. Here’s to another epic season finale.”
Are the Viewership Numbers Strong Enough?
While the hype is high, some fans have expressed minor anxiety over Season 2’s viewership data. When Season 2 dropped back in March 2026, it pulled in 16.8 million views in its first six days. While incredibly impressive, it was a slight dip from Season 1’s historic 18.5 million views in its first four days, and by the end of 14 days, it was ultimately down 32%—here’s how that tracks against other shows:
When Will Netflix Make It Official?
Per theories we’ve seen, fans believe we won’t have to wait too long for official confirmation although we’d be hesitant on anything official for quite sometime barring any major slip up.
Many on the subreddit predict that Netflix will attach the Season 4 announcement to the end of the first official teaser trailer for Season 3, mirroring how they handled previous announcements. Others speculate they might save the reveal for the next massive Netflix Tudum or Geeked Week event.
As for the timeline? If filming kicks off in mid-2027, the subreddit consensus is that Season 4 (which will likely adapt the beloved Jaya and Skypiea arcs) would hit our screens by late summer or fall of 2028.
Netflix has yet to respond to a request for comment.
What do you think? Has Netflix already quietly greenlit One Piece Season 4? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!
