One Piece teased that one of the Straw Hat Pirates could have a huge transformation waiting for him in the future. After the new bounties of the Straw Hats were revealed, fans have been speculating over an odd detail in the wanted poster of Franky, which teases that in the future the crew’s shipwright could bring his incredible cyborg body to a whole new level.
The world of One Piece is full of incredible creatures and impossible powers, but even in that context Franky stands out as an oddity. When he was introduced, Franky was “just” a human who inserted some mechanical parts in his body, but during the two-year time skip he used the blueprints and laboratory of famous scientist Dr. Vegapunk to bring his cyborg body to the extreme.
Throughout the series it is revealed that Franky has actually replaced the majority of his organic body with technological devices, becoming more machine than human. Franky hides a range of powerful weapons that he uses in battle but also comical devices that are the delight of his most impressionable fellow Straw Hats, such as Luffy and Chopper.
Chapter 1058 hints that in the future Franky could lose even what little he has left of human. When his new bounty poster arrives, the picture does not show Franky himself, but the iconic bow of the Thousand Sunny, the ship that he has designed and built.
Of course, this could just be a gag of Oda. However, One Piece’s author Eiichiro Oda rarely does things that do not have a deeper meaning, and he is a master at foreshadowing future developments.
To further corroborate the theory, fans are pointing towards something that Oda did for the SBS of volume 101, where a fan asked him to draw Franky in his 50s and 70s, as he has for most other Straw Hat members. While in a “normal” future Franky becomes a lovely mechanic, in a dystopian “future where things went wrong” he will turn into a killer robot first, and then into an actual battleship.
Now, One Piece has entered a new arc. It’s no stretch to say this arc will undoubtedly be important for Franky given his connection with Vegapunk. Oda is also dropping little breadcrumbs that lead me to believe Franky will be getting a redesign by the end of this arc.
His bounty poster is currently the Sunny, and before that it was Franky Shogun, meaning the wider world doesn’t have a great idea as to what Franky looks like. Even when Yamato identified Franky it was only because he happened to be in Shogun. Oda is intentional with his bounty gags, which tells me the next bounty poster will display Franky’s new design.
On top of that, Vegapunk has made multiple comments that they’re undermanned, underfunded, and likely in need of a SUPER smart and capable partner who can actualize a lot of Vegapunk’s inventions.
