The following contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, now playing in select US theaters.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is a fun adventure for some of the franchise's supporting characters. Instead of carrying galactic significance or the fate of all creation on the line, the series' latest film plays out more as a comedy of misunderstandings, all building to a massive kaiju battle.

The central conflict of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is predicated on a misunderstanding -- with the newly introduced Dr. Hedo believing the Z-Warriors are actually believing them to be villains. But given the evidence shown to him, it's not a totally unbelievable mistake for someone in-universe to make.

RELATED: Dragon Ball's Mr. Popo Is A True Hero & Deserves More Credit Than He Gets

Dragon Ball Super - Super Hero Movie 2

At the heart of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is Dr. Hedo. The grandson of Dr. Gero (the architect behind the Androids and Cell), Hedo is a well-intentioned if dangerously brilliant young man. He's committed to protecting the world with heroes, which flies in the face of Commander Magenta and Officer Carmine's plans for the resurgence of the Red Ribbon Army. To that end, they don't try to force the scientist into their employ (especially after learning about some of the defense mechanisms he's constructed for himself). Instead, they convince him of their own "heroic" intentions and paint the actual heroes of the Dragon Ball franchise as villains. Magenta paints a picture of the world where an alien armada has begun its steady invasion of the planet by an invasive species -- the Namekians.

Goku, Vegeta and Buu are among their most dangerous agents, and they've even converted androids to their cause. Magenta's telling paints Cell as a hero, someone willing to fight for humanity and who died despite his best efforts. At the center of a global conspiracy -- and the commander of an elite alien force of fighters -- is none other than Bulma. In Magenta's telling of it, the inventor has been quietly controlling the world for years, using her allies to weaken humanity for an easier invasion.

All of this goes a long way toward convincing Hedo of their nobility, and he constructs the superhero-inspired Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 to help bring down these "monsters." It's a pretty funny concept from the outside, considering how untamed the heroes of the Dragon Ball franchise can be. But from within the series' context, it makes a certain amount of sense that people should fear Goku and his friends.

RELATED: How Well Did Dragon Ball Z Handle Power Creep, Actually?

Dragon Ball Super - Super Hero Movie 4

Within the Dragon Ball universe, Goku and his allies must be terrifying. Wherever they go tends to explode into a massive conflict, and among their number are multiple people (including former villains like Piccolo, Vegeta and Buu) who have either tried to conquer or destroy the world in the past. While the franchise's heroes largely keep a lower profile than someone like Hercule Satan, anyone who actually took the time to investigate them might come away with a very different perception. These are people who can fly under their own volition and sustain massive injuries from a young age, can level mountains with their abilities and hold their own against behemoth threats. It's not entirely absurd that someone might see the Z-Warriors and their allies as serious threats.

Of course, that also speaks to the hubris of the Red Ribbon Army and Dr. Hedo. They're all convinced they can repel these aliens with a series of basic attacks -- seemingly thinking it would actually take some effort from the Z-Warriors to take over the world. Many of their members have planet-busting capabilities, and their discovery of new evolutions increases their limits on an ever-growing basis.

RELATED: Dragon Ball Super Manga Artist Loves the Franchise's New Movie

The strongest Z-fighters aren't even present for the battle against Hedo's creations, and most of the Red Ribbon Army's attempts to intimidate or defeat anyone in Super Hero fail miserably. But the heroes of the Dragon Ball franchise have no desire or ambition for conquest, so they'd never even consider the idea. Even Bulma -- the supposed ringleader of the conspiracy -- is so well-off and powerful, she's more or less using the Dragon Balls as free cosmetic surgery.

Hedo recognizes this by the end of Super Hero -- and on top of asking forgiveness, offers his and Gamma-1's services to Bulma going forward. It's another example of the Dragon Ball heroes turning an enemy into a friend, something that has transformed plenty of world-level threats into defenders of the galaxy. But from the outside, it's understandable why someone like Hedo might have been convinced that the heroes were as frightening as they have the potential to be.