Today, March 10, Netflix drops all eight episodes of One Piece: Into the Grand Line, the long-awaited second season of its record-breaking live-action adaptation. Among the many highly anticipated new faces joining the Straw Hat Pirates’ world, one has captured the imagination of fans and critics alike since her casting was first announced: Sophia Anne Caruso, stepping into the role of Miss Goldenweek, one of the most peculiar and genuinely chilling operatives in the Baroque Works syndicate.
Caruso was announced as part of what Netflix teased as a trio of “masters of chaos” joining the season in January 2025. The streamer’s official social media post introduced her character alongside Chess (Mark Penwill) and K.M. (Anton David Jephtha), describing the group with a flair for the theatrical: a paintbrush, a bow, and hair that hits like a hurricane. It was a fitting introduction for a character who defies the usual conventions of anime villainy.
In the original manga and anime by Eiichiro Oda, Miss Goldenweek, whose real name is Marianne, is a top-tier Baroque Works operative with a power that is as strange as it is devastating. Rather than combat or brute force, she relies on her “color trap” technique, a form of hypnosis channeled through her painter’s brush. Depending on the color she applies, she can manipulate the emotions and personalities of her targets, forcing fierce pirates into fits of laughter, overwhelming them with lethargy, or compelling them to sit down for an unwanted tea party. It is, as entertainment outlets have noted, a deadpan, art-student energy that requires a performer capable of conveying danger through apparent passivity.
That description fits Caruso’s track record remarkably well. The actor first announced herself to Netflix audiences in the 2022 fantasy film The School for Good and Evil, where she played Sophie, a character whose arc moved from aspiring fairy-tale princess to a dark, blood-magic-wielding force. Before that, she had already made a significant mark on Broadway, most notably originating the role of Lydia Deetz in the stage musical Beetlejuice and performing in Greyhouse. Multiple entertainment news outlets covering the casting noted that her theatrical background and capacity for nuanced, sardonic performance made her a natural fit for a character whose strengths lie entirely in emotional manipulation rather than physical power.
The January teaser, which Netflix titled “Rise of the Baroques,” gave audiences their first proper look at Caruso in costume, complete with Miss Goldenweek’s signature oversized hat and her paintbrush held with unsettling calm. TV Guide, Nerdist, and CBR were among the outlets to highlight her appearance in the footage, with Nerdist observing that the character might seem like an innocent child on the surface before that facade gives way to something considerably more sinister. The promotional image released ahead of today’s premiere reinforces exactly that quality: there is something deeply still and purposeful in Caruso’s expression, a performer entirely at ease with the character’s quiet menace.
Miss Goldenweek’s role in the season places her in the Grand Line, with her most notable story beats expected to unfold in and around Whiskey Peak, one of the first locations the Straw Hats visit after crossing Reverse Mountain. Season two officially subtitled Into the Grand Line covers the Loguetown, Reverse Mountain, Whiskey Peak, Little Garden, and Drum Island arcs from Oda’s source material, meaning Caruso’s character appears as part of the Baroque Works ensemble that the crew encounters early in their Grand Line adventures.
She joins an impressively stacked roster of Baroque Works agents this season, which includes Joe Manganiello as the warlord Mr. 0 (Crocodile), Lera Abova as the mysterious Miss All-Sunday (Nico Robin), David Dastmalchian as Mr. 3, Camrus Johnson as Mr. 5, Jazzara Jaslyn as Miss Valentine, and Daniel Lasker as Mr. 9. Charithra Chandran of Bridgerton fame also joins as Miss Wednesday, while the wider ensemble brings in Katey Sagal as Dr. Kureha, Callum Kerr as Smoker, and Sendhil Ramamurthy as Nefertari Cobra.
One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda shared a letter ahead of the premiere teasing that everything established in the first season is about to be challenged. “All the conventions that were established in Season 1 will be shattered,” Oda wrote, according to Netflix Tudum. Showrunner Joe Tracz echoed that energy, telling Tudum that every stop the Straw Hats make in the Grand Line will test each crew member in a unique and personal way.
The first season was nothing short of a phenomenon. It debuted at number one in over 75 countries, became the first Netflix English-language series to debut at number one in Japan, spent eight weeks in the Global Top 10, and accumulated over 92 million views between its 2023 debut and the end of 2024. The pressure on the second season is immense, but if the early promotional material is any indication, the show is leaning hard into the source material’s bizarre, operatic energy. And if there is one image that captures what this new chapter promises to deliver, it might just be Sophia Anne Caruso, wide-eyed and serene, paintbrush in hand, ready to make you feel something you did not choose to feel.
One Piece: Into the Grand Line is now streaming on Netflix.
