A new Dragon Ball Super 2022 movie release date has been confirmed in an unexpected manner by an official leak. What’s more, Akira Toriyama himself is talking about the new Dragon Ball Super Movie 2 and his plans for the story!
On May 5, 2021, the news page for Toei Animation Europe briefly listed a news story with a headline that states, “Toei Animation Marks Goku Day With Surprise Announcement of New Dragon Ball Super Movie in 2022”.
The new Dragon Ball Super Movie 2 announcement will apparently take place on Goku Day 2021, which is celebrated on May 9, 2021. (Speaking of which, today, May 8th, is Happy Gohan Day!)
The headline provided a link to the Dragon Ball Super 2022 movie page, but the page was moved or deleted. But the website did not delete everything…
Dragon Ball Super Movie 2 discussed by Akira Toriyama
The Dragon Ball Super 2022 movie was also confirmed by a message from Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama!
“An all new movie since Dragon Ball Super: Broly is currently in the making!” the Dragon Ball creator wrote. “Just like the previous movie, I’m heavily leading the story and dialogue production for another production for another amazing film.”
Back in 2019, Shueisha editor Akio Iyoku and Dragon Ball Super: Broly producer Norihiro Hayashida had discussed their early plans for the planned film project as part of an interview included in the Dragon Ball Super: Broly Blu-Ray/DVD.
Iyoku said at the time that “there were a few things we couldn’t achieve” with the DBS: Broly movie, so they were hoping the next film would be much better.
“We are steadily working towards the next Dragon Ball movie. Since Broly was way too strong, I think maybe next time things will head in a different direction in the next one,” Iyoku said. “I’ve overcome various hurdles with parts of Broly, so I won’t get burned out. From here on out, I think Dragon Ball will continue on, so please look forward to it.”
Producer Hayashida said they raised the bar for the DBS: Broly movie, which made them realize a few things.
“The staffing, casting, and various other things for the movie were so good that we felt it can’t get any better than this, but… due to the experience, we’ll make things even better next time!” the producer said.
Dragon Ball Super manga’s Moro story arc unlikely to be the 2022 movie’s story
Fans have long speculated whether the new Dragon Ball Super movie would adapt the Moro story arc from the Galactic Patrol Prisoner saga in the Dragon Ball Super manga. After all, it’s the next manga story arc after the universe tournament of power arc that was adapted by Dragon Ball Super Season 1.
In the leaked message, Toriyama seemingly confirmed that the Dragon Ball Super 2022 movie will have an original story… and an “unexpected character”!
“I really shouldn’t talk too much about the plot yet, but be prepared for some extreme and entertaining bouts, which may feature an unexpected character,” he wrote. “We’ll be charting through some unexplored territory in terms of visual aesthetics to give the audience an amazing ride, so I hope everybody will look forward to the new movie!”
The Dragon Ball Super Moro story arc is much more likely to be adapted by a new Dragon Ball Super Season 2 anime TV series. To put things in perspective, the tournament of power arc was 16 manga chapters long and corresponded to 55 anime episodes, whereas the Moro arc is 26 chapters.
Therefore, the Moro arc is simply too long to wedge into the limited runtime of a DBS movie. At the same time, the manga’s version of the tournament of power arc came out after the anime, so it’s difficult to make such comparisons.
The Dragon Ball Super manga is currently in the Granolah the Survivor arc. The story is very interesting since it has a bounty hunter attempting to steal the dragon balls in order to exact revenge on Frieza for destroying his people.
Let’s just hope the Dragon Ball 2022 movie sets up and announces Dragon Ball Super Season 2. Stay tuned!