Why Smoker From Netflix's One Piece Season 2 Looks So Familiar

This post contains spoilers for Netflix's "One Piece" live-action series.

Eiichiro Oda's "One Piece" is challenging source material to adapt. The sheer scale of the adventure-laden saga is daunting enough, but a competent interpretation in live-action is a separate uphill battle. With the second season of "One Piece" already out, it has passed the anime adaptation's hardest challenge yet: capturing the tone of Oda's acclaimed manga series. The latest season also introduces a wide host of eccentric characters, including Captain Smoker (Callum Kerr), who was teased in a post-credits scene at the end of the first season. In this season 1 scene, we saw the back of a man with silvery white hair burning Monkey D. Luffy's (Iñaki Godoy) wanted poster with a cigar. Those acquainted with the manga/anime will know that this is Smoker, who is formally introduced in the season 2 premiere.

So, where have you seen Callum Kerr before? The actor began his career with modeling gigs for major brands, and went on to appear in the music video for Robbie Williams' "Mixed Signals." This paved the way a string of television guest appearances, with Kerr being a part of shows like "Doctors" and "Armchair Detectives." You might also remember him as Duncan in the Hulu rom-com miniseries, "Four Weddings and a Funeral," which also stars Nathalie Emmanuel and Rebecca Rittenhouse. Kerr was also a part of the Channel 4 soap opera "Hollyoaks" and the 2022 miniseries, "Flowers in the Attic: The Origin." He has also appeared in the fantasy series, "The Wheel of Time," which was canceled by Prime Video after three seasons.

Smoker has been set up as a major antagonist in the second season, given his determination to stop the Straw Hat crew at any cost. 

Captain Smoker clashes with the Straw Hat Crew as early as the season 2 premiere, where Luffy gets ambushed by two season 1 antagonists: Buggy the Clown (Jeff Ward) and Captain Alvida (Ilia Isorelýs Paulino). The duo uses Seastone chains to bind Luffy, which renders him incapable of using his Devil Fruit powers. Smoker arrives just as Buggy is about to execute Luffy on the same execution platform where the legendary pirate Gol D. Roger (Michael Dorman) was publicly speared. He witnesses the most spine-chilling sight. Instead of being afraid, Luffy laughs maniacally, echoing the way Roger laughed before telling the world to find the One Piece. As Roger's final act had brought about the Great Pirate Era, Smoker seems afraid of Luffy having the same level of influence and potential.

This births an obsession with arresting Luffy and his crew, as Smoker doesn't want the piracy to challenge the status quo maintained by the Marines. In episode 2, Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp (Vincent Regan) urges Smoker to focus on pressing issues instead, such as the threat of revolutionaries overthrowing the World Government, or the kingdom of Alabasta being on the verge of civil war. Even so, Smoker seems adamant about capturing Luffy — a goal that will come to define his character in the arcs to come.

Season 3 of "One Piece" has already been confirmed, but it's unclear how long the series might last. That said, this isn't the last we've seen of Smoker, as he will be back as long as Luffy will keep searching for the One Piece in the pre-timeskip era.