WARNING: The following contains spoilers for One Piece Chapter 1044, "Warrior of Liberation," by Eiichiro Oda, Stephen Paul and Vanessa Satone, available in English from Viz Media.
Chapter 1044 of One Piece, "Warrior of Liberation," has revealed the true nature of Monkey D. Luffy's Gum-Gum Fruit. It's actually called the Human-Human Fruit Mythical Type Model: Nika. When awakened, Luffy ascends to Gear Five and applies the properties of rubber to his surroundings, often to cartoonish effect. It's a major development that has fans ecstatic. One can't help but wonder what it will be like to see Gear Five animated.
There's always the possibility that Luffy's Awakening will be featured in the upcoming One Piece Film: Red. Having a new power-up debut in a movie of all places is a little unorthodox, but not entirely implausible. Here's a look at the likelihood of Ger Five and Luffy's Devil Fruit Awakening making its first official anime appearance in the movie.
On one hand, having these power-ups appear in the movie would continue the recent trend of One Piece films to showcase the latest additions to Luffy's skillset. Gold saw him using Gear Four Boundman against Guild Tesoro. In Stampede, he pulled out Snakeman to get a punch in on Douglas Bullet. Toei animation may be planning on maintaining this trend for Red.
On the other hand, showing Gear Five now would ruin the surprise for anime-only fans. While it's true that Luffy's other power-ups were featured in the previous two movies, both of those movies premiered after the new forms were introduced in the anime. Boundman debuted in the "Dressrosa" arc, which wrapped up by mid-2016; Gold premiered later that year. Likewise, Snakeman debuted at the end of the "Whole Cake Island" arc in early 2019, so it was okay to feature it in the movie that came out a few months later. In both instances, the anime was able to feature the new form in time for the movie.
Red probably won't be able to afford the same luxury as its predecessors. In order to debut Gear Five before the movie's premiere, the anime would have to adapt dozens of chapters within the next three months or so. This would be an absurd time crunch, especially for how the anime is paced. This isn't even taking into account the ongoing hiatus. Having Gear Five or Luffy's Awakening debut in the anime before the movie is virtually impossible.
While seeing Luffy's new power-ups in Red might be a pipe dream, this would be as good a time as any to feature it. If the next One Piece Film following Red is anything like the last few, it won't happen for at least another three or four years. By that point, Gear Five and Awakening will likely have been shown, but the hype will have already died down. The next film will probably show off Luffy's next power-up if anything. If Gear Five or the Awakening isn't prominently featured now, it will be a tragically missed opportunity.
Perhaps Toei will come forth with a happy medium. It's possible that they will show Luffy using a partial Awakening to hint at the new powers he will develop. Gear Five is out of the question unless Toei wants to present some sort of anime-exclusive Gear 4.5. This could be the best compromise that can be made under the current circumstances.
If Toei really wants to show off some of Luffy's new powers, the center of attention will probably be his new mastery of Haki. Gear Five may not show up in time for the movie, but Luffy's ability to project Armament Haki outward should be out by then. He might even get to project Conquerer's Haki. Luffy could even use a new variation of the Gum-Gum King Kong Gun that incorporates these new techniques. This wouldn't be as big as Gear Five or an Awakening, but it should at least appear in the anime in time for the movie.
In all likelihood, Luffy's power-ups will not appear in One Piece Film: Red. At least not in its entirety. It's simply too soon for the anime to showcase it. It's more likely that some other power-up will be featured for the movie. The Sun God's premiere on the silver screen may have to wait until another time.
