Fans have waited a small lifetime to see a live-action version of Luffy and the One Piece gang — and that wait may well end with a spookier fate for the Straw Hat crew.

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With Netflix’s adaptation soon charting a course for screens, long-time viewers may spot a few key changes along the way.

Speaking exclusively with RadioTimes.com, director Emma Sullivan said: "[The team] have adapted particular manga chapters for our two episodes."

She continued: "Matt Owens and Steve Maeda are our showrunners. I get the scripts as done, but Matt I think spent years working on this show. But they did adapt it.

"A lot of the action was outside and the characters have been slightly reduced. It’s Usopp’s journey in this one of how he joins the Straw Hats, but we've made it more into a spooky house horror thing. So it's kind of fun and visually playful."

With anticipation for the series building since its announcement back in January 2020, One Piece takes a darker turn in the search for Roger’s treasure.

One Piece still showing two characters on a boat looking at a giant monster
Netflix's One Piece.

Fans will meet the eerie Klahadore in episode 3, who has a unique way of getting exactly what he wants.

"When he takes down a villain, his idea is that you kill their dreams, that taking someone's dreams away is the worst thing you can do," Sullivan exclusively tells RadioTimes.com.

Read more One Piece:

She continued: "One Piece is all about fulfilling your dreams and going and seeing if you can do that, and Luffy is all about dreaming it and doing it.

"In the original manga, the villains don’t die but often just get kind of taken down. And I think that's quite an interesting approach. And I think we've done a bit of both."

All eight episodes of the live-action One Piece are set to stream on Netflix at the end of the month.

One Piece is available to stream on Netflix from August. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

Check out more of our anime coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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