Dragon Ball Super back with new movie in 2022, may have ‘unexpected character’

When it comes to anime, there are few franchises as well known as Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball. Between the original hit manga, four animated TV series, over 20 films and countless more video games, Goku and friends are basically household names. It’s a huge franchise, and it’s about to get bigger. Toei Animation has announced a new Dragon Ball Super movie set for a 2022 release.

The movie doesn’t have an official title just yet, but Toei Animation says it’s been in the works since 2018, before the theatrical release of Dragon Ball Super: Broly. In a statement accompanying the film’s announcement, series creator Akira Toriyama teased the new movie “may feature an unexpected character.” Toriyama worked on character design, story development and character dialogue for the project, and promised the film would be “charting through some unexplored territory in terms of the visual aesthetics to give the audience an amazing ride.”

The announcement came as a part of Toei Animation’s “Goku Day,” which celebrates the franchise’s 37-year history, and it’s the first new Dragon Ball animation project since the debut of Dragon Ball Super: Broly. That film currently holds the record for the highest-grossing film in the Dragon Ball franchise, but that could change. 

The announcement of the new movie comes at a good time for anime films. After all, Demon Slayer overtook Mortal Kombat at the US box office recently and earned itself the title of the biggest foreign language film premiere in US history.

The new Dragon Ball Super movie is set to debut in 2022.