After 27 Years, One Piece Is Bidding Farewell To The Straw Hat Pirates

One Piece began its run in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on July 18, 1997, in Issue #34. Since then, the series has established a legend and become the most successful manga of all time. At the core of One Piece is the protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew, the Straw Hat Pirates. This crew was established officially in One Piece chapter 6 on September 1, 1997, and has since continued strong. As far as the anime goes, the Straw Hat Pirates were brought to life in 1999, and 27 years later, they are continuing strong.

Now, fans will have to bid farewell to the Straw Hat Pirates after 27 long years. For the very first time in the history of the entire franchise, One Piece is getting a movie where they are not going to be involved at all. On August 23, 2026, One Piece announced the film God Valley for a 2027 release. This film will mark the first time in history that One Piece will have a movie release without Luffy and the Straw Hats. Instead, Eiichiro Oda has officially chosen a new protagonist crew.

One Piece Will Not Involve The Straw Hat Pirates In The Next Movie For The First Time In 27 Years

Every single fan of One Piece was waiting for the commencement of One Piece Day 2026, which was a two-day event held on August 22 and August 23, 2026. Every year, massive announcements are made on One Piece Day, and this year was no different. The vast majority of the event was spent on the second Global Popularity poll results, but some major pieces of information were also given to us. Most importantly, at the very end of the event, we got confirmation of two new One Piece movies:

• One Piece Film: God Valley, which is set for release in Summer 2027.
• One Piece Film: Baad, which is set for release in 2029.

We are primarily concerned with One Piece Film: God Valley, which sees Eiichiro Oda and Toei Animation combine to create the very first canon movie adaptation of the manga. Most importantly, for the very first time in the entire history of the One Piece anime, the Straw Hat Pirates are not going to be the protagonists. One Piece has had many movie releases over the years, with Film Red being its last one, but never has there been a One Piece movie where Luffy and the Straw Hats have not starred as main characters. For the very first time, there will not be even a single member of the Straw Hat Pirates in a One Piece movie. That has surprised all fans but excited them all the same because the characters who are going to take the lead are stars in their own right, and they are members of the Roger Pirates.

Gol D. Roger And The Roger Pirates Will Star As The Protagonists of the New Movie

One Piece Film: God Valley will specifically bring the God Valley Incident to life in a movie format as it is released across Japan in Summer 2027 and followed up internationally as well. The God Valley Incident was first brought up in One Piece Chapter 957, titled “Ultimate,” which was released in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #44 on September 30, 2019. Sengoku mentioned the God Valley incident to us first of all, and then we found out more about it in Egghead. Finally, the full events of the God Valley Incident were delivered to us in the Loki flashback of the Elbaf arc, specifically, from chapter 1159 to 1166. This eight-chapter run covered the exciting battles across God Valley and focused on the characters of Rocks, Roger, and Garp more than anyone else.

“Here’s the full truth. Garp and Roger teamed up to break apart the Rocks Pirates on God Valley to protect the Celestial Dragons and their slaves. The island of God Valley is no longer drawn on the maps of the world.” — Sengoku explains the God Valley Incident, One Piece Chapter #957

However, for the upcoming One Piece movie, Eiichiro Oda has already chosen the new protagonist crew to follow, and that is the Roger Pirates. This is clear from looking at the poster of the movie, where, instead of the Jolly Roger of the Straw Hat Pirates woven into the One Piece logo, we can see the Jolly Roger of the Roger Pirates. Rocks is an extremely important character to follow in God Valley as well as he is the ultimate antagonist to take down. As was clearly seen in One Piece Chapter 1165, officially released on November 10, 2025, in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #50, Rocks is Domi Reversed by Imu and stands in the path of Roger, who then teams up with Luffy’s grandfather, Garp. Together, these two combine to take down this calamity, and they officially succeed in doing so, making a great name for themselves in the process.

Garp and Roger: Bring it on, Rocks!!!

Garp: What the hell have you turned into?

Roger: I won’t let you go after my crew!

Rocks: Garp, Roger! Please, kill me!

— God Valley battle begins, One Piece Chapter #1164

At the same time, both Scopper Gaban and Silvers Rayleigh will also be heavily involved in the God Valley movie. Among the members of the Roger Pirates, Rayleigh will have his own plotline, which sees him rescue Shakky, while Gaban will be the one primarily responsible for hoarding all the treasure on God Valley, which is also how Shanks ends up with Roger and the crew. The ultimate winners of the God Valley Incident were the Roger Pirates, and it will be incredibly exciting to see how they fill the role of the Straw Hats in this new movie release, which is also historic.

Luffy And The Straw Hats Return After The God Valley Movie

Naturally, fans are not used to not seeing the Straw Hat Pirates on the screens whenever a new movie is released. Be it Strong World, Film Z, Film Gold, Stampede, or Film Red, every single major One Piece movie release sees the Straw Hat Pirates at the center of attention. Now, Film God Valley will push the Straw Hat Pirates out of the scene completely and throw the light on the old generation led by the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. That said, fans are still eagerly waiting for the return of Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates.

Thankfully, the flashback that covers the God Valley Incident spans only 18 or so chapters in the manga. Immediately after the God Valley Incident, the remainder of the flashback is covered, and then the story returns to the present timeline in Elbaf, where Luffy and the Straw Hats take their role as the protagonists once again. There are a lot of exciting movies to come with Luffy at the center of it all, but for now fans should sit back and enjoy this legendary ride, which sees the events of God Valley being brought to life like never before.

All the newest One Piece manga chapters by creator Eiichiro Oda are available to read via Manga Plus and Viz Media.