L-R: Abova, Manganiello, writer Matt Owens, co-star Jeff Ward – Netflix

During Netflix’s live Geeked Week send-off event in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday night, host — and out and proud geek — Joe Manganiello announced he has stepped up his nerd cred even more. 

The Magic Mike star will be joining the cast of One Piece, Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the beloved and bestselling manga, for its second season. 

The actor will play the iconic villain Mr. 0; also joining the show will be Bumper in Berlin alumna Lera Abova playing Miss Sunday.

The series stars Iñaki Godoy as straw hat-wearing swashbuckler Monkey D. Luffy, who sets off with his crew —Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero as Usopp and Taz Skylar as Sanji — to find the fabled article of treasure that shares the series’ title.

One Piece managed to avoid the pitfalls of other adaptations, like Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop, by becoming a smash out of the gate. 

The live-action version of Eiichiro Oda‘s pirate saga debuted on Aug. 31, 2023, at #1 on the streaming service’s English language TV chart and the top 10 in 93 countries. In its first four days, it racked up 140.1 million hours of viewing time, right up there with the debuts of massive hits like Stranger Things season 4 and Wednesday.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.