Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero star breaks down the film's most exciting moments
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Warning: This article contains spoilers about Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
After so many years, Dragon Ball feels as popular as ever. The latest film in the franchise, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, was No. 1 at the U.S. box office last weekend — 36 years after the Dragon Ball anime first premiered on Japanese television. In that time, the franchise has attracted multiple generations of fans, and the new film pays tribute to that long, rich history while also adding new characters to the mix.
EW caught up with American voice actor Chris Sabat (who voices both Piccolo and Vegeta, and is voice director for the English dub) to break down the most exciting moments from Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
Toei Animation Pan (
Piccolo and Pan
Piccolo has always been a gruff mystic, and it's clear at the start of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero that if he had his way, he'd spend all day meditating and training his mind. And yet, Piccolo is constantly called upon by his former student Gohan (Kyle Hebert) to look after his daughter Pan (Jeannie Tirado), picking her up from school when her dad's too busy with scholarly research. Although he acts annoyed, the film makes clear that Piccolo cares deeply for Pan — not least because he can now train her in the same ways he once trained a younger Gohan.
"It became very clear that Piccolo is a big part of their family," Sabat tells EW. "I may have leaned on this as a father, I may have leaned on this even harder than Japan did, but I loved the idea that they asked Piccolo to pick up Pan more than Piccolo wanted to. I got the impression that he does this all the time. So there's a moment when Piccolo apologizes to Pan's teacher. In the Japanese script, it's just 'sorry about this, ma'am.' We did 'sorry about this, Janet.' I thought Piccolo knowing Pan's teacher on a first-name basis implies for the audience that he does this all the time."
Toei Animation Vegeta (Chris Sabat) in 'Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.'
Goku vs. Vegeta — but different this time
As Dragon Ball went on, the power levels of the villains kept escalating to the point that it felt like the only heroes who could contribute to the plot were the Saiyan warriors Goku and Vegeta, who could always achieve another stage of Super Saiyan transformation. Super Hero switches things up by keeping Goku and Vegeta off on their alien planet with Whis (Ian Sinclair) and Beerus (Jason Douglas). Goku and Vegeta just spend their time having an epic sparring match while Piccolo and Gohan overcome the Red Ribbon Army.
"I found it interesting that they put Vegeta and Goku in time-out, a little bit," Sabat says. "There's also the interesting element of Vegeta being the one who was methodical, focused, and chill for the first time."
Don't forget to watch the film's post-credits scene to see how the sparring match ends!
"There's nothing more exciting than Vegeta finally getting a win, even if it's in the most hysterical way possible," Sabat says.
Toei Animation Piccolo (Chris Sabat) achieves new power in 'Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.'
Orange Piccolo
One reason the heroes are able to defeat their enemies without Goku and Vegeta is that Piccolo figures out a way to boost his own power. By assembling the Dragon Balls, Piccolo wishes for the dragon Shenron to enhance his dormant abilities the same way the Namekian elder once did for Gohan and Krillin (Sonny Strait) way back in the "Namek Saga" of Dragon Ball Z. It's a fun callback for longtime fans.
"Piccolo's never been the focus of anything before, but I think he makes a really good lead character," Sabat says. "It was interesting to watch him sitting there figuring out what to do and going through his whole Rolodex to solve this problem. 'I'll go see Korin; I'll go see Dende.'"
So what to call Piccolo's new form — Super Namekian? Super Piccolo? The characters themselves come up with a simpler adage.
"Any upgrade that Piccolo can get is fine by me," Sabat says. "When he rises up out of the ground surrounded by the whirlwind of special effects looking like the Hulk, I almost started crying the first time I saw it. I'm sure the audience felt the same way."
Sabat continues, "And I love how casually he and Gohan chat about it towards the end. 'Oh, I see you turned orange.' 'Yeah.' 'What are you gonna call it?' 'I guess, Orange Piccolo.' Like yeah, that tracks!"
Toei Animation Gohan (Kyle Hebert) powers up in 'Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.'
Gohan takes after Piccolo
A familiar climax takes shape at the end of Super Hero: Once more the android Cell is threatening the world, and only Gohan can stop him. But whereas Gohan once destroyed Cell with a massive Kamehameha blast, the technique he inherited from his father Goku, this time he takes a different approach.
Gohan has always learned a lot from Piccolo — even in Super Hero, his battle outfit is still identical to that of the Namekian warrior — and he proves that definitively when he finishes Cell off with Piccolo's signature move, the Special Beam Cannon.
"That's one of those moments that just takes the audience's breath away," Sabat says. "When I first saw that, my mouth dropped. It was very cool of creator Toriyama to allow the audience to really, truly experience that that was happening. Around that time, the music drops out, it's just silence in the theater, and you hear Gohan's voice: 'Special Beam Cannon!' I mean, I'm actually getting a little choked up talking about it."
Sabat adds, "It's a creator finally making good on his promise of 20 years that Gohan was going to be a valuable asset. At the same time that it's the climax of this film, it's also a miraculous callback, with Piccolo holding Cell just like Goku held Radditz. Except this time he did it right, and moved out of the way! And Gohan's smart enough to aim higher."
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