Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Movie Ending Explained - IGN

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is finally in theaters here in North America. The new movie is a direct sequel to the Broly film that was released initially in 2018, and draws focus away from Goku and Vegeta in favor of Gohan and Piccolo. There are new interesting tidbits to get into, so let’s break down the ending and where it falls in the overall Dragon Ball canon.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Movie Ending Explained

We have new forms! It’s always nice to see beloved characters continue to grow and we see that in Gohan and Piccolo this time. Considering how much of the Dragon Ball Super series has revolved around Goku, Vegeta, and the tournament of power, everyone else stays out of the spotlight for the most part. Now we have the Broly movie canonized, the return of the Red Ribbon Army, and Gohan and Piccolo leveling up. The most hype moment of the movie is arguably seeing Gohan Beast for the first time.

Prior to this, we see Gohan in his Potential Unleashed form, which we first saw back in the Fusion Saga. It took Gohan seeing Piccolo almost dying to push him over the edge to unlock the new form. It makes you wonder if Piccolo planned that as well since he was tricking Gohan with the Pan shenanigans. The whole fight is reminiscent of Gohan and Cell during the Cell games, but with Piccolo in place of Goku - obviously, not quite a beat-for-beat recreation, but it’s a neat remix of one of the series' biggest fights. Either way, it’s a very cool moment seeing this new form that looks similar to his Super Saiyan 2 hair, albeit significantly longer with a silver tinge, with this new form being much more powerful than that.

Next up of course, we have Piccolo’s new “Super” Namekian transformation, which Piccolo dubs “Orange Piccolo.” Not the most imaginative, but also not wrong. Piccolo visited Dende in hopes of further unlocking his potential but suggested using the Dragon Balls instead because of course they can. With Shenron’s help, Piccolo unlocked his potential and activated his new form mid-battle. Just before the change, you can see the symbol of the Namekian Pride glow on his back. Similar to Gohan, this is an upgraded version of his Potential Unleashed form. It’s pretty cool to see the student and teacher both level up in a similar way considering their long-standing relationship over the series. Not to mention seeing Gohan using Special Beam Cannon completely for the first time on his final attack. Such an emotionally charged moment.

Speaking of taking that Special Beam Cannon, Cell is back … kinda – in the form of Cell Max. We got new androids and another Cell. Crazy. This Cell is very different though in a lot of ways. First off, Cell Max doesn’t seem to have the ability to absorb others which caused a lot of concern back in DBZ, as fans remember. Compared to the original Cell, Cell Max seems almost feral - in his first three forms, Cell was quite chatty, and prone to speeches. He just went berserk out the gate. This might be due to him not being perfected, but it clearly didn’t affect his fighting abilities - or stunt his growth.

Then we have Dr. Hedo, Dr. Gero’s grandson, who created the new androids, Gamma 1 and 2, plus Cell Max. We find him at the end looking to turn himself in after the chaotic events of the final battle. He really seems to be a good guy compared to his grandfather. His overall goal was to create ‘superheroes’ to stop potential threats to Earth, which he was tricked into thinking was led by the Capsule Corporation. WIth that said, Bulma invites Dr. Hedo to join Capsule Corporation to better make use of skills. So far, we got ex-villains joining the good guys in back to back movies. The bad guy becoming a good guy is, after all, typical for most villains in the DragonBall universe. We have Cheelai, Lemo, and Broly in the last movie and now Dr. Hedo and we assume Gamma 1 as well. Even though Gamma 2 sacrificed himself, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him again hopefully … although that Avengers: Endgame particle dispersion seemed pretty certain.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Post-Credits Scene

Lastly, we have a post-credits scene in this movie that shows the finale of Goku and Vegeta’s fight that happened off-screen during Piccolo and Gohan’s adventure. Goku calls it quits giving Vegeta a very rare win as they collapse to the floor. If you told someone the new Dragon Ball movie ends with Vegeta beating Goku, this might not be how they’d picture it - but hey, it’s a nice bonus for Vegeta fans tired of Goku always coming out on top. Meanwhile, Broly had a front row seat for all this, so maybe he learned some new tricks. But who knows when we’ll see him in action again - and that’s our biggest question:

The Future of Dragon Ball

What's next for Dragon Ball? The Broly movie cleaned up at the box office, and Super Hero looks like it’ll follow suit. Could there be a new series on the horizon, or does the future of the series lie in more movies? There are rumors that new Dragon Ball episodes are currently in production, set after the Universe Survival Arc, reportedly slated for a 2023 return. A new DBS movie set after Super Hero is also reportedly in pre-production, with Toei planning to release movies every two to three years. We'll have to wait and see if it all materializes in the future when Toei Animation officially confirms what’s next for the popular anime series.

What did you think of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, and which would you want Goku and the other Z Fighters to pop up in next - a new series, another movie, or both? Let us know in the comments below. And please, no manga spoilers for the anime-only watchers out there.

If you want more anime, check out our 10 Best Anime to Video Game Adaptations video and also our list of the Summer 2022 anime in case you missed the last batch of new series.

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