Based on all of the early promotion, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero looks to be correcting one of the series' biggest Gohan missteps. One of the big problems with Dragon Ball is in its handling of Gohan and the squandered promise of the character. This, in no small part, comes down to the prominence of Goku and the power of his marketability. Super Hero looks to finally be veering away from the sometimes suffocating influence of the character, giving Gohan a chance to succeed Goku and potentially begin the next generation of Dragon Ball in earnest.
Gohan was always intended to be Goku's replacement as the next generation of Z-Fighters, dating all the way back to the Cell Saga. That promise was unfortunately broken during the Buu Saga, where the character was made a big deal of, only to be shunted off to the side so his father could save the day, setting Gohan up for an even worse mishandling in Dragon Ball Super. That storytelling potential was doubly squandered with his daughter, Pan, whose endearing introduction to the series in the Peaceful World Saga was undermined by her abysmal representation in the maligned Dragon Ball GT as little more than a damsel for Goku to save.
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero looks to be letting Gohan reclaim his intended role, and may even be setting up his daughter as his eventual successor. Goku and Vegeta are off-planet during the events of the film, opening the door for Dragon Ball's many other characters to step up in a major way. The movie's plot has some incredibly familiar, and very promising implications, which could actually be setting the stage for the redemption of both Gohan and his daughter, Pan.
The fact that Goku and Vegeta don't feature in the film at all means that Gohan is finally front and center again. Without a doubt, the biggest problem for Gohan has always been his all-powerful father. As long as Goku was around, there was little motivation for Gohan to take over for him. This was epitomized in the Buu Saga, where Gohan spent a considerable amount of time developing his Ultimate form—a state that allows him to access the powers of a Super Saiyan (and beyond) without the physical toll the transformation takes—only to be brushed aside shortly after. In Dragon Ball Super, Gohan fell off with his training because Goku and Vegeta were around and could take care of any problems that arose. Without them, however, Gohan can finally make good on that promise of him becoming the next Guardian of Earth, even if only temporarily.
The plot of the movie, as suggested by the trailers, has shades of the Raditz Saga, meaning that this could be for Gohan what that storyline was for Goku. Being the first storyline of the Dragon Ball Z era, the introduction of Raditz did more than just shake up the Dragon Ball world. It also propped up Gohan and his potential as a major focus for the series going forward, which culminated years later in teen Gohan defeating Cell with the help of Goku's spirit—a symbolic passing of the torch moment for the two characters. Now that Pan is around the age that Gohan was in the Raditz Saga, and seems to have been abducted by the Red Ribbon Army, the story definitely appears to resemble Dragon Ball Z's very first major arc in some unmistakable ways. That similarity could indicate Gohan taking what was his father's role in the story, and Pan taking his.
With Pan featuring in the movie, it could be propping her up as the next in line to take the torch, which she'd need. Among Dragon Ball GT's numerous failings, the bratty and constantly imperiled representation of Pan is one of the most infamous. GT Pan had no real character arc and never got the opportunity to develop into a Z-Fighter in her own right. Pan never even went Super Saiyan, despite Goten and Trunks getting that power (and much more) at younger ages than she was in the show. Now the series has a chance to amend all of that and prop her up to take center stage the way Gohan was meant to do for his father. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero has all the pieces it needs to finally deliver on that decades-old promise of a generational story, letting Gohan succeed Goku and paving the way for the next generation of Z-Fighter.