Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, releasing on August 19th, features a wide variety of returning favorites right alongside brand-new characters. With a cast as diverse as this one, we spoke to Goku's iconic voice actor Sean Schemmel as well as Dr. Hedo and Carmine's voice actors Zach Aguilar and Jason Marnocha.
While Dragon Ball has always been primarily Goku's story, the Saiyan fighter takes a back seat in this latest film to center Gohan and Piccolo. In terms of antagonists, the film sees the Red Ribbon army return led by Magenta, his assistant Carmine, and the superhero-obsessed scientist, Dr. Hedo. The new Red Ribbon Army inevitably poses a threat that will take the combined might of every Z-Fighter to face.
With fans hotly anticipating such an epic story, Screen Rant sat down to speak with Schemmel, Aguilar, and Marnocha about their role in the films.
Was there any pressure that comes with joining Dragon Ball's world and being part of that story?
Zach Aguilar: Oh my gosh, definitely a lot of pressure, but at the same time, just like gratitude to be able to be a part of this amazing franchise and growing up watching the show and working with Chris Sabat. It's been very, very surreal, I would say, yes, the pressure was definitely something I felt then. But at the same time, the team behind this series puts in so much love and care that, during the recording sessions, I did not feel any part of it. It was just a blast to work on.
Jason Marnocha: I felt the pressure much more on like, the anticipation of getting to the studio, you know? Like you're sort of on the plane, you're coming from the hotel, you're doing all the whatever's. But then when you get there Chris is such an actor's director. So his presence and the way that he conducts his directorial mission is, so chill and he has this very reassuring presence. Like he wants you to do well, and knows you can, so the pressure was lessened that way. It's like, "Okay, here we are, we're in this world that everybody in here loves." In that way the pressure was less and that was a big relief in terms of when you're performing. You don't want to be thinking about all the whatnots of every which way that something could be going with a franchise like this. But the pressure was there.
I think that through the directing, the gorgeous animation, and the writing, it really helps to have kust amazing stuff going on when you get to step in to do the actual performance. So since we already had all that set up, we just glided through it, and it felt super natural. The vibe was good, and the sessions were wonderful. With Carmine there was also a degree of non-pressure for me because I was expecting that if I ever got into Dragon Ball, it would be like one of those characters blasting planets out or whatever. So getting to play a character that was just sort of very astute and straightforward and not screaming was helpful.
Super Hero features a lot of returning characters, but also a lot of new ones. What was the welcoming process like for the new actors?
Sean Schemmel: We do have to consider with casting that it's all about the acting. But once you figure out who you want, there is a certain amount of conversation around is this guy an asshole? When we cast somebody we have to vet them professionally and we have to make sure that they're gonna get along with the cast. Because we also know that being in this world you're going to be thrown together a lot. You're going to do a lot of appearances and it's going to go on for a lot of years. And if you've got somebody you can't work with, that helps.
I was very eager to meet Zach, Aleks, and Jason here. I'm just meeting Jason for the first time today. Zach and I have been in the con circuit all year, hanging out, talking about cars, getting to know each other. And I just met Aleks Le. So it was very exciting for me to welcome the cast. But also, there's a certain standard that we have and so there's a certain amount of don't screw it up and you better bring your A-game. And I don't really have to worry about that because Chris is really good at casting. But when the casting was happening, I was calling him and asking "Who are you gonna pick?" I mean, I don't have any say, but I would just be like "What's going on Chris?" And he'd tell me "You're gonna love it. It's gonna be great." So, it's gonna be great.
To welcome Zach and now Jason, I'm thrilled to have them, largely because they sound so good. And I mean, they're nice guys, too. Then when I met Aleks, I was tripping on Aleks, because he's very wise for his age. That guy's like a 50-year-old in a 20 year old's body. Because I asked him, I asked him, like, "When were you born?" And he's like, "'99." I'm like, "That's when I started on the show!" So Aleks Le was born the year I started working on the show. So it was very, it was very exciting to welcome the new cast. I already knew Jeannie. I hadn't spoken to her before, but I already knew Jeannie.
And Charles has been an old friend for years. He goes, "You know, I would love to audition for Dragon Ball." And when I saw I was at a convention with him in Dubai, and I said, "Look, I'll put in a good word, I have no problem with that." And Chris is like, "Just have him call me, he's a friend." And so we auditioned Charles, and we thought that was just a coup because having the voice of Mario showing off what he can do.
Mario is a very difficult character to play because there's no dialogue usually. He just got to do these vocalizations, which he's a master of, so to get to hear him really act and really do a lot of dialogue was going to be thrilling for fans of Charles out there in the world. It was a real coup to get him, so welcoming him was no problem at all. Because I've had dinner with him on a number of occasions. He's a foodie. So he introduces me to new food. Anyway, so yeah, it was very exciting to have everybody on. But, there's always the acting aspect and again, you've got to be able to work with folks. I remember a casting director told me that he's like "I don't care really about all that, all I care about is whether I can work with you 16 hours a day." That's a big part of it. But the bottom line is the acting and the voice.
Zach Aguilar: 100% and like, I will say that Sean and Chris and everybody all the legacy characters of Dragon Ball have given me nothing but the warmest welcome. It has been just an absolute dream come true really to be a part of this franchise. Like, no matter what I think, I will go probably years after this film releases and still think that it's surreal and not fully believed that I am living out my childhood dream coming true. And yeah, it was a really warm welcome. Sean and Chris have been absolutely amazing. Chris with the way he has like put together the film it's really just been great all around. Everyone's super nice and cool and fun to work with. Just like I'd expect they would be as a fan, so it's always nice. They say never meet your heroes, but I'm in this case I'm glad I did.
What were the most fun and most difficult parts of playing your character in Super Hero?
Sean Schemmel: The most fun was that the post-credit scene I got to do. That was fun. So make sure you watch past the credits. There wasn't really anything difficult. For me it was a walk in the park because I'm used to having to scream my brains out for hours, and so it was kind of a walk in the park for me
Zach Aguilar: Yeah, I mean I think for my character, the most fun thing was the most difficult thing, trying to keep them evil and villainous. You know, he has this voice to him but he also needs to be able to scream in that voice and go through different emotions and whatnot. Throughout the entirety of the series, there's a car scene where he like has his voice go up super high pitch. He's doing that and I don't really do those kinds of characters normally, so it definitely was a challenge but a very fun one at that.
Jason Marnocha: I think that some of the most fun was certainly anytime we have Magenta, Carmine, and Dr. Hedo in the same room trying to do something, doesn't matter what it is. Because they're all just on such different like brave brain wavelengths at any given time. Like only occasionally can they corral themselves together like a herd of cats. So that was always fun because Zach is so hilarious and wonderful in this movie and in everything forever and also because Charles was just incredible. So yeah, fabulous. They're getting to be involved with scenes like that.
And the interesting thing about the opening narration was that we wanted that to sort of be a little smoother than Carmine's normal voice. We didn't want it quite as low as normal, so it's a little more performative. And a little more, "Let me narrate." So that was kind of exciting to get to make a slight differentiation. So that was a little daunting. We had to make sure that we nailed that, just so, and I think we spent probably the longest amount of time on that. We did some rewrites and things like that. But that was it. It was a ton of fun all over like I had a wonderful experience and such a whirlwind experience I like flew in on a Monday night. We recorded on Tuesday, in the afternoon, and I flew out that night.
Zach Aguilar: Oh, that's right. I completely forgot about the recording time. That was another thing too, because I live in California and flew to Texas. I think when I got the role, Chris gave me a call and was like, "Hey, can you fly to Texas in like three days?" I'm like, wait...
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Synopsis
The Red Ribbon Army was once destroyed by Son Goku. Individuals who carry on its spirit have created the ultimate androids -- Gamma 1 and Gamma 2. However, these two androids call themselves superheroes and start attacking Piccolo and Gohan.
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero arrives in theaters on August 19.