According to recent leaks, one of the overall franchise’s most threatening antagonists is set to return as the upcoming Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero film’s final villain.
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Previous speculation as to the villain’s identity was sparked thanks to an English-translated film synopsis provided by noted translator Todd Blankenship which hinted at a final showdown between Gohan and a Red Ribbon Army-created ‘ultimate evil’ weapon with a specific grudge against the half-Saiyan.
“In the past, Goku destroyed the evil ‘Red Ribbon Army’ organization,” said summary begins. “But their will lived on!!”
“Now that they’ve revived, the RR create the new androids ‘Gamma 1’ and ‘Gamma 2’ and begin their revenge,” it continues. “Piccolo soon notices this disturbing activity, and sneaks into the Red Ribbon base, but there he discovers an unimaginable ‘ultimate evil weapon’…!!”
“Pan is kidnapped in order to lure Gohan to the base,” the summary adds. “There he joins the fight, and an unprecedented super battle begins!!!!”
In light of this information, many fans – Bounding Into Comics included – speculated that the next cinematic entry in the Dragon Ball franchise could see the revival of Cell, the final and intended perfect creation of Red Ribbon Army founder Dr. Gero.
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On May 31st, these theories of Cell’s return were further bolstered by @DBSChronicle’s leaking of the tracklist for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero’s original soundtrack, which featured a piece titled “The Deadliest of All, Activates” as its 16th track.
“This confirms there’s NO theme song this time,” noted the reputable Dragon Ball news reporter. “And the titles may spoil you if you connect the dots.”
This leak was followed up by more concrete confirmation of the android super weapon’s appearance in the film the next day, when on June 1st, fellow series information provider @EmperorBigD revealed an “email that I got from January 2020” wherein an alleged source asserted that Toei had “planned a ‘Cell’ Movie for late 2021.”
However, as noted by @EmperorBigD, these plans were derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which “postponed several projects.”
Adding to this confirmation, @DBSChronicles later tweeted a recreation of the villain’s new form, a “Giant Cell Monster” apparently-named Cell Max.
As seen in the image, Cell’s new form will reportedly see the villain’s dark green ‘armor plating’ recolored to a dark pink/crimson, his tail absorption feature replaced with a similarly-colored spiked ball and his eyes turned completely orange.
Sadly, this new ‘monstrous’ Cell seems to have nothing in common with the Xeno Cell, or Cell-X, version of the villain seen in the alternate universe fanservice series Super Dragon Ball Heroes, itself a gigantic and grotesque mutation of Dr. Gero’s work with an arguably much better design.
Alongside these hints of Cell’s role in the Red Ribbon Army’s latest plans, @DBSChronicles also noted that despite making an appearance, Goku, Broly, and Vegeta neither transform nor return to Earth during the events of the film, seemingly confirming that Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero would indeed be a Gohan and Piccolo-centric outing.
What do you make of these latest leaks surrounding Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero? Let us know your thoughts on social media or in the comments down below!