If there's one thing that we're looking forward to in the One Piece live-action adaptation, it's the epic fights between the Straw Hats crew and other pirates. And since there's a swordsman in the crew, we are not ruling out a legendary duel. Mackenyu has just confirmed that the first season will feature the dangerous showdown between his character Roronoa Zoro and the iconic Dracule Mihawk.
Roronoa Zoro is the first person to join the Straw Hats Pirates and he just happens to be a master swordsman wielding not one, not two, but three swords during his fights. Still, he's far from being the world's greatest swordsman, not while the pirate Dracule Mihawk exists.
Luckily for the One Piece live-action series, Zoro is portrayed by Mackenyu who has already proven he is handy with swords in Rurouni Kenshin: The Final. Still, the Knights of the Zodiac actor admitted to GamesRadar that the fight against Mihawk (played by Steven Ward) is the biggest challenge he had to face while filming the show.
"There is an iconic fight scene between Zoro and Mihawk," Mackenyu said. "I can’t give too much away, but it was freezing cold and wet when we filmed that scene, so it was a tough one for me!"
It certainly sounds like a dangerous sequence considering that both characters are master swordsmen and will not easily back down. For manga readers and anime viewers, Mihawk is the one swordsman to watch out for after Zoro, and we can't wait to see their duel in live-action next month.
The One Piece live-action series will also star Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp, and Taz Skylar as Sanji. The first season will consist of eight episodes that will all begin streaming on Netflix on August 31, 2023.
