Xolo Maridueña Is Officially Ace in ‘One Piece: The Battle of Alabasta,’ and the Sand Alone Sounds Wild

Netflix’s live-action ‘One Piece‘ has spent two seasons proving that adapting one of the biggest manga franchises in the world could actually work, and now the show is gearing up for its most ambitious chapter yet. The Alabasta arc, long considered one of the series’ most beloved storylines, is finally making its way to the screen in season three.

That expansion has brought a wave of new casting news, much of it unveiled during this year’s One Piece Day celebration. Cole Escola was confirmed early on to play the theatrical assassin Bon Clay, setting the tone for a season packed with fan-favorite characters finally getting their live-action counterparts.

Chief among those additions is Xolo Maridueña, the ‘Cobra Kai’ and ‘Blue Beetle’ star who has now officially stepped into the role of Portgas D. Ace, Luffy’s sworn brother and one of the manga’s most pivotal figures. Netflix confirmed the casting alongside a promotional clip showing Maridueña reflecting on his time on set, joking that he genuinely couldn’t tell whether the production had used 10,000 tons of sand or 100,000 tons to build out Alabasta’s desert landscape.

That kind of scale gives a sense of just how much Netflix has invested in bringing the desert kingdom to life. Season three, which recently wrapped production in Cape Town, South Africa, has been described as significantly bigger in scope than its predecessors, both in terms of world-building and its expanding ensemble.

Maridueña joins a growing list of fresh additions to the Alabasta arc, including Daisy Head as Miss Doublefinger and Awdo Awdo as Mr. 1, alongside a more recent wave that added Emilio Sakraya as Koza, Omid Abtahi as Toto, Jamie Ward as Pell, and Nabeel Khan as Chaka. Several established cast members are also getting expanded roles this season, among them Charithra Chandran as Princess Vivi, Joe Manganiello as the warlord Crocodile, and Sendhil Ramamurthy as Nefertari Cobra.

Within the story itself, Ace’s arrival carries serious weight for longtime fans of the source material. He’s introduced as Luffy’s older brother in every way that matters except blood, having sworn brotherhood with him as children, and his path eventually intersects directly with the larger conflict brewing in Alabasta. Casting him alongside Vivi, Crocodile, and the rest of the arc’s key players suggests Netflix is treating this stretch of the story as a genuine centerpiece for the season.

It’s also a reunion of sorts on the Netflix side of things, since Maridueña previously spent six seasons on ‘Cobra Kai’ before this jump into pirate territory. His ‘One Piece’ co-star Iñaki Godoy, who plays Luffy, reportedly visited the set to spar with him ahead of filming, a detail that only added to the anticipation once his casting became public.

The momentum behind the franchise makes the timing especially notable. Season two, subtitled ‘Into the Grand Line’, premiered on March 10, 2026, and racked up 320.7 million hours of viewing on the platform, a clear signal that audience appetite for the series hasn’t slowed down. With season three, ‘The Battle of Alabasta’, currently targeting a 2027 release, Netflix has plenty of runway to build anticipation before Ace, Vivi, and the rest of the desert kingdom’s cast make their debut.

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