The release window for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero's North American debut has finally been revealed.
While there still isn't an exact date for the movie, it was announced during the global live-stream event Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2022 that "the new film is coming to North America this summer!" It will premiere in Japan on April 22.
The most recent trailer for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero predominantly contains footage of Gohan battling the movie's new antagonists, Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, who have been confirmed to be androids created by the Red Ribbon Army. According to Dragon Ball series producer Akio Iyoku, the film will focus heavily on Goku's firstborn son and his alien mentor. "It's been almost 40 years since the start of the series but never before has there been a work with so much heart," Iyoku stated at the Toei Lineup Presentation in Japan earlier this month. "This time, the story is centered around the master-disciple duo of Gohan and Piccolo."
Moreover, many fans have been speculating that Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero will feature the return of one of the long-running franchise's most iconic villains: the ultimate android Cell, who Gohan defeated during the "The Cell Games Saga" arc of Dragon Ball Z. This rumor has been fueled by a promotional screenshot that was released in V-Jump, the Shonen Jump spinoff magazine where Dragon Ball Super is published; according to some fans, they can see part of Cell's legs in the image.
Another recent piece of promotional material for the new movie showcases updated designs for fan-favorite characters like Trunks, Goten and Android 18. Notably, Goten and Trunks are teenagers in the image, indicating that substantial time has passed between the conclusion of Dragon Ball Super: Broly and the start of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero; Trunks' hair is also blue as opposed to its usual lilac shade.
Dragon Ball fans have even more to be excited about than the upcoming premiere of the new film. Most notably, the 40th anniversary of Akira Toriyama's original manga series is coming soon, and to celebrate, publisher Shueisha has launched the Dragon Ball Super Gallery Project. This initiative features reimaginings of Toriyama's classic cover art by fellow mangakas like Bleach's Tite Kubo, Naruto's Masashi Kishimoto, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's Koyoharu Gotouge, Kochikame's Osamu Akimoto and Sket Dance's Kenta Shinohara.
The Dragon Ball Super anime series is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
Source: YouTube
