Ever since the announcement of the new feature film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero fans have been desperately waiting to witness the spectacle on the big screen. It was finally last week i.e., June 11, 2022, when the new film hit theatres but unfortunately only in Japan. Obviously, fans worldwide were a bit disappointed owing to all the leaks that surfaced, but soon enough the news came that Crunchyroll was actually working on an English Dub version. In this article we’ll talk about something that would make many a fans excited while displease others. But first, check out the spoiler-free review roundup of the film here.
Piccolo Was Supposed to Be the Lead of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
As you may know by now, in this new DBS film, Gohan and Piccolo take the center stage whereas Goku, Vegeta, and the others do not have much role to play. However, it seems like earlier, only Piccolo was the one who this movie was going to focus on, with a supporting role for Gohan. This update comes from Akio Iyoku, the film’s executive producer via an interview he did for the anime’s official website. Iyoku was asked about Gohan and Piccolo playing an active part in this work, where he revealed that Akira Toriyama did not intend for Gohan to join Piccolo at the front.
伊能エグゼクティブプロデューサーに突撃インタビュー📝
Q.本作で悟飯とピッコロがメインで活躍することについて
A.💬
実は先生の想定ではピッコロだけがメインで活躍する予定でしたが、私が悟飯を推したことで2人の活躍をメインに据えることになりました🤝#ドラゴンボール超スーパーヒーロー pic.twitter.com/A9NH1GaVp1— 映画「ドラゴンボール超 スーパーヒーロー」公式 (@DB_super2015) June 14, 2022
When asked about the mentor mentee tag team, Akio Iyoku replied, “Actually, (Akira) Toriyama-sensei’s original idea was for just Piccolo to be the lead, but I pushed for Gohan, so the two of them ended up as co-stars,” he shared.
This update took some fans by surprise, while others got excited about the prospect of Piccolo being the lead. However if you rationally analyze it, Piccolo never was, is and will be enough to pull fans in all by himself. First introduced as a villain in Dragon Ball, he has had quite an excellent character development and has become a firm fan-favorite. However, let’s be honest here, he isn’t a first tier character and not many of us would have been sold on him alone as the lead.
Since the beginning, we have always seen the relation between Piccolo and Gohan and usually the Namekian acts as Gohan’s support as well as his back. It would have been cool to see him take the lead but that would have left Gohan with little to no role. As whatever threat Piccolo might have faced, it would have been a piece of cake for Gohan, so just like Goku and Vegeta, Gohan might have been sidelined as well. So, in my opinion, if and when they decide to make a Piccolo film, it should be based in Namek of one or the other universe and should feature just Piccolo among Z fighters. That would pave an easy way for him to take the limelight while not snatching it away from our other beloved characters.
What do you think? Was Piccolo a good idea for lead in this film?
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