Pirate Captain Monkey D. Luffy is switching course from the East Blue and heading straight to the Arabian Gulf.
Mexican actor Iñaki Godoy, breakout star of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of One Piece, has been announced as a celebrity guest at Middle East Film & Comic Con (MEFCC), the region’s largest annual pop culture festival.
One Piece is both the best-selling manga in history and the best-selling comic series printed in volume. It is the only comic series in history to record an initial print of over 3 million copies every year for 10 years straight, and in 2023, it was reported that each of the 105 volumes had sold over 1 million copies.
In 2022, One Piece even broke the Guinness World Record for “World’s Most Published Comics Series by a Single Author”, surpassing 500 million copies worldwide.
At just 20 years old, Godoy captured hearts of fans and critics alike with his infectious energy and charisma as Luffy. Eiichiro Oda, the creator behind the One Piece manga, shared that he personally selected Godoy to play Luffy after Godoy made him laugh during his audition and that Godoy’s Luffy surpassed his expectations for a live-action portrayal of the beloved character.
Godoy is scheduled to attend all three days of the MEFCC to sign autographs and take pictures with fans at the convention’s Meet the Stars zone. Alongside Godoy, the Meet the Stars zone will also introduce convention-goers to a panel of actors and voice actors, including James and Oliver Phelps (Harry Potter), Temuera Morrison (Star Wars), Troy Baker (The Last of Us, Uncharted, Final Fantasy XIII), and more.
The 12th annual Middle East Film & Comic Con will be held at ADNEC in Abu Dhabi, from February 9th-11th. More celebrity guests and panelists are expected to be announced soon.