One piece. Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy in Season 2 of One Piece. Ten million. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
We’re currently waiting for Season 3 of Netflix’s live-action a piece The adaptation, which recently finished its main production in South Africa. But despite a long post-production road to a third outing, ever-vigilant fans have started piecing together clues that a Season 4 renewal may already be in the bag.
If you are keeping an eye a piece The live-action community on Reddit (especially). r/onepieceliveaction) or the big Discord channel for the show, you’ll know that spies never stop. Over the past few weeks, a growing mountain of evidence has convinced fans that Netflix and Eiichiro Oda have already secretly greenlit a fourth season of the show. Given that there was a lot of work going on on Season 3 before Netflix’s official announcement, they might not be entirely wrong, and in fact, Season 3 is definitely not being set up as the final season.
Here’s why fans think season 4 is already happening, and when we might actually hear about it.
Stunt artist hints at Cape Town comeback
The biggest clue that set the subreddit on fire recently comes straight from the stunt team.
On July 2, a fan saw an Instagram story of David Cannon – who primarily works as a stunt double for Heavy Point Chopper – featuring his fellow stunt performer LouisF. Louis was celebrating his homecoming after a grueling eight months of shooting Season 3. However, the main clue was a big hint that Louis has already booked to return to South Africa next year to film “Something”.
This is in addition to McNew’s personal trainer, who liked (the only one liked) a comment on IG mentioning preparations for Season 4 (which was eventually deleted after fans flocked to it, taking it as confirmation of Season 4).
Given that South Africa is the primary filming center for live-action a piece At Cape Town Film Studios, Fans immediately connected the dots. As Reddit user No_Cash_516 pointed out a few days later, several actors and other production members are reportedly hinting about returning to Cape Town next year. If the crew is already planning a trip to 2027, it strongly suggests that pre-production for Season 4 is moving forward behind the scenes.
Lera Aboeva’s wrap-up post for Season 3 is less compelling, also implying there’s already an intention to get back to filming, with an Instagram post reading: “Farewell for now, my greatest companion through good and bad times, @OnePieceNetflix. Here’s to another epic season finale.”
Is the viewership strong enough?
While the hype is high, some fans have expressed a little concern over season 2’s viewership data. When season 2 returned in March 2026, it received 16.8 million views in the first six days. While incredibly impressive, it was a slight drop from Season 1’s historic 18.5 million views in the first four days, and by the end of 14 days, it was ultimately down 32% — here’s how it tracks against other shows:
When will Netflix make it official?
According to the theories we’ve seen, fans believe we won’t have to wait too long for official confirmation, although we’d be hesitant to make anything official for a while barring any major mistakes.
Many people on the subreddit speculate that Netflix will attach the Season 4 announcement to the end of the first official teaser trailer for Season 3, reflecting how they handled previous announcements. Others speculate that they may save the reveal for the next big Netflix Tudum or Geeked Week event.
Regarding the timeline? If filming begins in mid-2027, the subreddit consensus is that Season 4 (which will likely adapt the Dear Jaya and Skypiea arcs) will hit our screens by the late summer or autumn of 2028.
Netflix has not yet responded to a request for comment.
What do you think? Has Netflix already quietly given the greenlight a piece season 4? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
