With the combination of anime becoming part of mainstream pop culture worldwide in recent years and the Dragon Ball franchise being one of the most enduring anime IPs around, the atmosphere is right for the upcoming Super anime movie for 2022.
The last movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, was both a critical and commercial success, with all the colorful mayhem that makes this anime such an icon all these decades later after the original series debut in the '80s. Super Hero will be taking a different approach, though, as it's opting for CG animation. Nonetheless, Reddit has been anticipating the movie even more after the recent trailer was released.
Goku Training With Broly On Beerus' Planet
Broly was initially introduced in the non-canon Dragon Ball Z movie trilogy in the 2000s, but the first Super movie formally introduced him in the official timeline. He's been a fan favorite for years prior and he was the major selling point of his first canon movie. With the first full trailer for Super Hero out, it now looks like fans have gotten a quick glimpse of him in action. Redditor psquared3524 points out a shot from the trailer featuring Goku sparring with Broly.
In the original movies, Broly was depicted consistently as a mindless and maniacal villain, but his canon appearance takes things to a more composed level. It was a fun element to keep the character relevant for supplemental properties like anime-based fighting games, but letting fans see a resolution to his troubled origins in Dragon Ball Super: Broly did well to add more to the character to make him more sympathetic. He shows more of his "gentle giant" side and essentially establishes a friendship with Goku, making this potential role in the upcoming movie a welcome promise kept.
Return Of The Red Ribbon Army
In what seems like an homage to the original Dragon Ball manga and anime series, it seems likely that the villains of Super Hero will be the Red Ribbon Army. This group of organized crime was around during Goku's youth on Earth trying to get all the Dragon Balls for world domination. Of course, they frequently butted heads with Goku -- expectedly losing -- and haven't truly been seen outside of the original series aside from the surviving Dr. Gero being the basis for the creation of the Androids in Dragon Ball Z's Android Saga arc.
However, given the tease of the trailer, Redditor InevitableVariables notes, among others, that it appears the Red Ribbon Army is making a comeback with a vengeance. With returning fan-favorite characters and the potential revival of a classic villainous group, Super Hero has the makings for being one of 2022's most anticipated anime.
The Z Fighters Possibly Being Framed
With the Red Ribbon Army having an apparent resurgence as main antagonists again, the brief trailer may have given insight into what the plot's conflict will be. More specifically, with the title Super Hero and the shots of some mysterious enemies, it looks like the latter is Androids created by the RRA to defeat the Z Fighters.
Redditor qeheeen speculates that these potential Androids (Gamma 1 and 2) are being used to frame or paint Goku and company as villains that can be replaced by "superheroes." At the very least, they could be tried to make look like they're incompetent and/or too reckless to be protectors of Earth. The "frame-up" plot conflict is a classic device used in other stories and could be an entertaining premise for a Dragon Ball movie with the colorful cast of characters available.
Improved CG Animation
In the anime community, CG animation is something that more often than not raises some possible red flags over the quality of the show or movie. It's understandable, as the likes of Berserk deserve a high-quality modern anime adaptation, but the 2016 series featured infamously rough use of this style. However, it can be done well as MAPPA's underrated Dorohedoro anime demonstrated how it can be executed tastefully.
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero naturally incited some concern over its revealed use of CG over 2D art, but fans are starting to warm up to its approach with this trailer after the initial look. There's still some general caution, but Redditors like InevitableVariables are expressing a degree of relief with how Toei Animation is handling things so far. The CG style looks like a take on how the Dragon Ball Z games' cell-shaded animation looked.
Piccolo Fighting One Of The Gammas
With the story's conflict potentially deduced, the trailer shows that the fight will at some point be taken directly to Piccolo -- one of the strongest non-Saiyan Dragon Ball Z Fighters. One of the Gammas looks to have arrived at the Namekian's home, with Redditor InevitableVariables also speculating that they could be there for the young Pan.
It would make sense if that were the case as Pan is the Saiyan-Human daughter of Gohan and Videl, and therefore a potential threat. Whatever the reasoning, this will surely come as a welcome part of Super Hero's story as Piccolo is another classic character of the franchise that fans would enjoy seeing get more time in the spotlight.
Pan Being Trained By Piccolo
A pleasant surprise to come with the trailer was that another spotlight was given to Pan. When the shot turned to one of the Gammas seemingly attacking Piccolo, it shows that the latter is actually training her. Redditor AHope4More expresses excitement and appreciation that Pan seems to be finally getting treated like a proper character, as the Dragon Ball GT anime that notoriously disappointed fans missed a great opportunity in doing so.
It's thematically appropriate for her to be trained by Piccolo in Super since the Namekian is in large part responsible for training Gohan in his youth. Training up another Saiyan for a new generation would be a great plot thread to open up with Super Hero and ideally continue going forward.