Despite not featuring the full Straw Hat crew, Netflix's live-action One Piece series teased the final member of Monkey D. Luffy's iconic band of pirates.
The streamer's first stab at Eiichiro Oda's swashbuckling epic has been a resounding success, realizing the world of the hit anime and manga in a way never seen before.
The first season saw the bulk of this team come together to take on the villainous Arlong and his army of fish-men, but there were some names missing from the live-action adventure.
And while a second season has yet to be confirmed, showrunners Steve Maeda and Matt Owens have already started laying the seeds for the Straw Hats' next adventure, potentially even teasing who they might go up against.
One Piece Teases the Final Straw Hat
Near the end of Netflix's One Piece Season 1, the final crew member of Luffy's Straw Hat Pirates was teased.
During the Season 1 finale, a perturbed Arlong lists the seven pirate lords, mentioning the fish-man Jinbe by name.
In the manga and anime, Jinbe is the ninth and most recent canon addition to Luffy's Straw Hat crew and serves as the helmsman of the Going Merry as well as an officer in the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.
The character does not appear in the anime until close to the 400th episode and doesn't become a full-fledged Straw Hat until Episode 876.
He is a master of fish-men karate and a noted Warlord of the Seas before joining Luffy's crew.
It remains unknown if this was setting up an appearance from Jinbe in future seasons of the live-action series, but - for now - it seems to be a simple Easter egg for One Piece fans to ogle over.
Will Jinbe Be In One Piece Season 2?
As it stands, it seems unlikely that Jinbe will appear in Season 2 of the live-action One Piece series, but that is not to say he will never pop up.
Thus far, Netflix's version of the pirating story has remained fairly faithful to the source material. In the anime, it took over 400 episodes for Jinbe to even appear, let alone join Luffy's crew in earnest.
Given the series' current pace, it feels like the iconic fish-man is at least three or four seasons away from appearing in the live-action.
Plus, there are plenty of other Straw Hats to introduce before Jinbe even comes onto the team's radar.
The most likely candidate to hop aboard the Going Merry is Tony Tony Chopper (aka Chopper). During Season 1, Iñaki Godoy's Luffy mentions the need for a doctor among his crew, which felt like a pretty obvious tease towards the medically inclined bipedal reindeer.
In the manga and anime, Chopper is the next character to join as a member of the Straw Hats. So an appearance from him early in Season 2 feels like an obvious inclusion.
The other character teased in Season 1 that will likely appear before Jinbe is Nico Robin. Early in the first batch of episodes in Netflix's live-action adaptation Mackenyu's Roronoa Zoro crosses paths with a Baroque Works agent.
While the criminal syndicate does not make much of an impression on Season 1 of One Piece, the group is set up to play a major part in the potential Season 2. And seeing as Nico Robin is one of the group's most wanted criminals, she feels like she could pop up sooner rather than later.
One Piece Season 1 is streaming now on Netflix.
