Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero revealed more details about one of its new villains, Dr. Hedo.
The new information comes from a special feature in the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, which was scanned and shared online by Twitter user @DBSHype and translated by @DBSChronicles. While Dr. Hedo isn't the leader of the newly resurrected Red Ribbon Army, the magazine calls him the "root of all evil in the new film." Despite working with the bad guys, the scientist is apparently obsessed with superheroes, which is why he dresses in spandex and a cape and why he designed the movie's new androids, Gamma 1 and 2, to look the way they do. The page also highlights a mysterious machine in the center of Hedo's lab, which the magazine describes as being in an "embryonic state." Fans have theorized this machine contains Cell, a classic Dragon Ball Z villain who has been rumored to make an appearance in the new movie, though the film's producers have not mentioned anything officially about the character yet.
Super Hero was recently given a new premiere date, June 11. The film was originally planned to release in Japan on April 22, but was indefinitely postponed on March 6 after Toei Animation, the studio that has produced Dragon Ball's anime adaptations since the 1980s, was hit with a targeted ransomware attack. The cyberattack delayed multiple projects within the studio, including production on the on-going One Piece and Digimon anime, which were forced to stop airing new episodes for about six weeks. Both shows have since resumed their broadcasts. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero's North American release was originally planned to follow the Japanese premiere sometime this summer; the movie's producers have yet to announce if the movie will still be released internationally within the same premiere window, or if its release has been similarly pushed back.
The new movie features an original story set several years after the events of Dragon Ball Super: Broly. The film will focus on the relationship between Goku's son, Gohan, and his original martial arts master, Piccolo. The Namekian warrior will also receive a new transformation in the movie, whose name is tentatively being translated as the “Potential Unlocked” form, which gives Goku's former nemesis a new golden color scheme.
The Dragon Ball Super manga is available in English from VIZ Media. All of the classic Dragon Ball TV anime series, including Dragon Ball Super, are now available for streaming on Crunchyroll.