Three years after the premiere of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Toei Animation has confirmed the next anime film in the ongoing Dragon Ball Super saga, set for release next year. Titled Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, many details about the upcoming film are still largely unknown, including the film's actual plot, full cast of characters and planned release date.

However, as part of Toei's formal announcement of the film at Comic-Con@Home 2021, a sneak peek at the film's production has hinted at how the anime movie may continue the adventures of Goku and the Dragon Ball franchise moving forward.

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The New Dragon Ball Super Movie Title

Dragon-ball-super-super-hero-logo

The "Super Hero" subtitle is an interesting one, suggesting that Goku and the Z Fighters may lean more heavily into superhero tropes than the typical fantasy and martial arts elements that have defined Dragon Ball for years. Franchise creator Akira Toriyama previously explored these sensibilities during Dragon Ball Z when Goku's eldest son Gohan briefly served as the series' protagonist. To conceal his identity while combatting crime, Gohan developed a superhero persona dubbed the Great Saiyaman, with his exploits later inspiring a feature film years later during Dragon Ball Super. While Goku was never one for secret identities, the subtitle could indicate something more urban and less cosmic than the bulk of Super's science-fiction-heavy stories.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero's New Character Designs

Dragon Ball Super new character designs

Another striking thing revealed about Super Hero during Toei's Comic-Con@Home presentation was the film's change in animation style. A short teaser showed Goku stretching and posing for a fight as usual, but this time rendered in CG, though still in line with Toriyama's classic visual style. Broly previously incorporated CG animation in several sequences, most notably in the movie's flashback prologue, but the teaser for Super Hero suggests wider incorporation of the style. Slight redesigns were also shown off during the panel, the most notable change being Krillin's appearance now subtly hewing closer to his manga design.

Another major detail teased for Super Hero is the return of Gohan and Videl's daughter and Goku's granddaughter Pan. Born at the beginning of Super and largely absent for the end of the series and Broly, the epilogue to DBZ shows Pan as a toddler capable of winning the World Martial Arts Tournament and every inch the formidable fighter her grandfather is. Pan's character sheet shows her in a kindergarten uniform, potentially older than she is at the end of DBZ. This would place Super Hero further ahead in the timeline than Super.

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Piccolo's New Home in Super Hero

Dragon Ball Super Super Hero Piccolo's house

One detail that fans have especially taken to since Super Hero's announcement is the film including Piccolo's home, with the stoic Namekian not apparently living on the Lookout with Dende as was implied in the past. The inclusion of Piccolo's scenic home not only promises more of the Namekian warrior and Gohan's surrogate father figure in Super Hero but, along with the inclusion of Pan and Krillin, suggests that the film's story will not be as focused on Goku and Vegeta as Broly was.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is poised to bring Goku and the Z Fighters into uncharted territory, both in terms of production and story, as more of their lives are shown beyond the shadow of its Saiyan protagonists. While the antagonist and overarching premise are still under wraps, Dragon Ball fans are going to have plenty to be excited about when Super Hero premieres next year.

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