‘One Piece’ Director Explains Why He Went So Dark With Buggy the Clown and How Manga’s ‘Devil Fruit’ Powers Work on Screen

variety.com:

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers through Episode 2 of “One Piece,” now streaming on Netflix.

When Marc Jobst came on as director and executive producer of “One Piece,” Netflix and Tomorrow Studios’ adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s iconic pirate manga, he had a clear connection to the gig early on, as he had directed multiple episodes of the high-seas drama “Black Sails.” That show, which ran for four season on Starz, features several of the ships that Netflix commandeered to refashion into the bright and colorful ones used in “One Piece.” While the series’ crew was handling that overhaul, Jobst (who has also directed episodes of “The Witcher,” and an episode of “Luke Cage” that was written by “One Piece” co-showrunner Matt Owens) was working to create an overall aesthetic for the “blue skies” adaptation of “One Piece” that also allowed for the natural incorporation of the manga’s darkest elements, including villain Buggy the Clown (Jeff Ward).

Buggy is a nemesis that teenage aspiring pirate king Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and his newfound almost-friends Nami (Emily Rudd) and Zoro (Mackenyu) face early on in “One Piece,” after being thrown together during Luffy’s journey to reach the “Grand Line” in the Blue Sea and find the elusive “one piece” treasure of legendary Pirate King Gold Roger (Michael Dorman).

While captured by Buggy and his crew, they’re subjected to the kind of psychotic torture that only a demented clown could dish out, which Luffy takes in his typical optimistic stride. “If you go too dark, you don’t become ‘One Piece,'” Jobst tells Variety. “If you go too funny and wacky and goofy, you lose the depth that ‘One Piece’ has.