Xolo Maridueña is taking Ace into Netflix's One Piece for Season 3, and the reaction landed fast. Soon after his character was announced, he said, he got many texts from people who had already made up their minds about the casting.
“Soon as my character was announced, I got so many texts like, ‘What? You’re going to be on One Piece? I love it!’” Maridueña said in a special video about joining the cast. That kind of instant response is the practical measure here: the role already has attention before One Piece: The Battle of Alabasta even reaches Netflix in 2027.
Alabasta Adds Ace
Season 3 moves the live-action series deeper into Alabasta, where Ace makes his debut in Eiichiro Oda’s original manga story. The cast list around him is unusually broad, with Cole Escola as Bon Clay, Awdo Awdo as Mr. 1, Daisy Head as Miss Doublefinger, Emilio Sakraya as Koza, Omid Abtahi as Toto, Jamie Ward as Pell, Nabeel Khan as Chaka, Mikaela Hoover as Tony Tony Chopper, Charithra Chandran as Princess Vivi, Sendhil Ramamurthy as Nefartari Cobra, Lera Abova as Nico Robin, and Joe Manganiello as Sir Crocodile.
That lineup signals a season built on expansion rather than a single-star reveal. Ace enters a story already loaded with named roles tied to Alabasta, which means the live-action version is not just adding a cameo; it is widening the character network around Luffy and the central conflict.
Production Wrapped Earlier
Earlier this year, One Piece: The Battle of Alabasta wrapped production for its cast. That puts the project in the long gap between shooting and release, with the 2027 debut window now the only firm timing available for viewers waiting on the next chapter.
Maridueña’s note about the texts cuts against that delay. The audience reaction is already moving faster than the schedule, and that usually tells you a character has commercial pull before the season even arrives on Netflix. For viewers, the immediate reality is simple: Ace is in, the cast is set, and the show is still a long way from release.
2027 Sets the Pace
Sometime in 2027 is the current target for One Piece: The Battle of Alabasta on Netflix, so the next real test is how the series uses Ace inside Alabasta rather than when the publicity cycle starts again. How exactly Ace's story connects to Luffy in the live-action version is not explained, and that missing piece is the one worth watching.
