This 95% Rotten Tomatoes Dragon Ball Movie Changed the Franchise Forever (& It’s Not Battle of Gods)

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With Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, the Dragon Ball series made a huge comeback after a long hiatus, significantly broadening its universe. The story introduced a whole multiverse, new and more powerful transformations beyond Super Saiyan, and dramatically increased the overall power levels with characters like Beerus and Whis, and the introduction of the Super Saiyan God form.

While Battle of Gods helped bring the Dragon Ball series back to life, it didn’t take many risks. The movie that truly revolutionized Dragon Ball was Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. Focusing on Piccolo and Gohan—characters not seen as central since the end of Dragon Ball Z—the film finally pushed the series forward after years of remaining stuck in the past.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Made Gohan & Piccolo Main Characters Again

Throughout its run, Dragon Ball Super primarily focused on Goku and Vegeta. While some arcs featured supporting characters with increased roles – like Future Trunks, Merus, and Granolah – the other Z-Fighters mostly served as fan service, with little impact on the main storyline. This was particularly noticeable during the Tournament of Power, where their contributions felt minimal.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero did something unexpected for recent Dragon Ball stories: it took a backseat for Goku and Vegeta, giving Piccolo and Gohan significant character growth – the most they’ve experienced since Dragon Ball Z – and letting them drive the plot. The movie largely focuses on Piccolo as he investigates the Red Ribbon Army and attempts to motivate Gohan to fight again.

Gohan mostly stays out of the fight until Pan is kidnapped, but then he quickly becomes the central fighter in the movie. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero really highlights what makes Gohan and Piccolo great: their strong connection, Piccolo’s dedication to teaching both Gohan and Pan, and Gohan’s ability to overcome challenges even when he hasn’t been training. By the end of the film, Gohan and Piccolo are as powerful and important as Goku and Vegeta – both in the story and in terms of their strength.

The Z-Fighters are Stronger Than Ever Thanks to Gohan Beast & Orange Piccolo

Just like Goku’s Ultra Instinct, the movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero shows that the traditional Super Saiyan forms may be becoming outdated. Both Piccolo and Gohan achieve brand new transformations that give them incredible power. Piccolo’s comes after a wish to the Dragon Balls unlocks his hidden potential, resulting in a unique Orange Piccolo form. According to creator Akira Toriyama, Orange Piccolo is now powerful enough to stand alongside Goku and Vegeta, making him one of the strongest fighters on the Z-Team.

Near the end of the movie, Piccolo pretends to die, which makes Gohan incredibly angry and unlocks a new, incredibly powerful form called Gohan Beast. This form seems to be an evolution of his Ultimate form from the original Dragon Ball Z series, pushing his hidden power even further. Gohan Beast is strong enough to defeat Cell Max and even surpass Goku’s Mastered Ultra Instinct in the Dragon Ball Super manga. Currently, he’s considered the most powerful of all the Z-Fighters, second only to Black Frieza in terms of overall strength.

Vegeta Finally Beat Goku in a Fair & Square Fight

Vegeta has defeated Goku in the past, but those wins haven’t been straightforward. During their first major confrontation, Vegeta lost to Earth’s defenders and considered his duel with Goku a clear loss because Goku won their energy beam clash and surpassed him with a powerful technique called Kaioken. Later, during the Majin Buu Saga, Vegeta unexpectedly knocked Goku unconscious, but felt humiliated to discover Goku had been holding back and could have easily won by transforming into Super Saiyan 3 at any moment.

In Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Goku and Vegeta have a surprisingly down-to-earth fight using only their base forms – no transformations allowed. Vegeta ultimately wins, narrowly defeating Goku, and marking the first time in the entire Dragon Ball series that he’s definitively beaten his rival. This suggests Dragon Ball Super is shifting its focus, moving away from constantly highlighting Goku and finally acknowledging Vegeta’s dedication and progress as a fighter.

Dragon Ball Has Never Been Closer to the End of Z

Above all else, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero meaningfully progressed the series’ storyline. Dragon Ball Super had been stuck in a strange place, where characters didn’t age despite the story moving towards the Peaceful World Saga. It was a significant issue that characters in the Granolah the Survivor Saga looked the same as they did back in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero introduced the first genuine time skip in the series in decades.

Goten and Trunks have grown into teenagers, Gohan has a new look, and Pan is now a child who can talk and is training with Piccolo. For the first time in a long while, the story of Dragon Ball feels like it’s progressing with a natural passage of time. Following the events of Super Hero, the story is now just one year away from the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai, where Goku will first meet Uub and begin training his most promising student. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero has successfully positioned Dragon Ball to move past the original ending created by Akira Toriyama, allowing for entirely new and unpredictable storylines.

The future of the Dragon Ball series looks incredibly bright, largely because of the success of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.

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2026-02-14 03:05