'Dragon Ball' Reveals First Teases of Epic Divine War Story Arc

The most recent episode of the Dragon Ball Heroes anime delved into the new "Universal Conflict: Dawn of War" Arc, and managed to pack in quite a few game-changing developments and/or revelations into an eight-minute runtime. There are already quite a few fan-service milestones in the new arc's early stages - but the real talking point may be how it could be a harbinger for something much bigger that will happen within official canon.

Here's why Dragon Ball Heroes may be testing the waters for a full-on Dragon Ball Super "Divine War" arc!

Ever since Dragon Ball Super's Tournament of Power arc entered its final stages, we here at Comicbook.com Anime have been breaking down the many clues that have pointed to a major shakeup in the divine order of the multiverse being on the horizon. From the mystery of the evildoer who killed Jiren's family and friends, to Whis' reveal that he's been secretly been training Goku and Vegeta all along (for a purpose we still know nothing about), there's been a lot of indication that Dragon Ball Super is focused so heavily on gods, angels, and an Omni-King for the purpose of a specific endgame. Ever since Beerus first threw down with Goku, it has seemed inevitable that the divine beings of the universe and the Saiyans would eventually come into conflict; however thanks to Dragon Ball Heroes, we suddenly have a much more enticing alternate path for how this divine war could unfold:

The "Universal Conflict" arc sees a mysterious team of villains named the "Core Area Warriors" invade Universe 6. From what we've seen so far, the group has full intention of cracking the divine hierarchy of the Dragon Ball multiverse, as they've somehow blocked the various Gods of Destruction from intervening, and have the stated target of killing Grand Zeno! More telling is the fact that the group's leader, Hearts, has somehow brought back the Immortal Fused Zamasu from DBS' "Future Trunks Saga", even though he was wiped from existence (along with his entire timeline) by the Omni-King.

This is a very telling turn of events, and though the "Universal Conflict" arc is unfolding in the non-canon Dragon Ball Heroes promo anime, it's hard to believe that the powers that be over at Toei and Bandai Namco would be testing these waters in such significant ways, without a larger purpose in mind. It's not hard to see how an adaptation of this "Universal Conflict" arc could (will?) eventually make its way into the canonized Dragon Ball Super series - especially if the promo anime storyline becomes a big hit with fans. It seems inevitable that some threat in Dragon Ball Super would eventually rise up to challenge Grand Zeno and his divine kingdom - and now we may know exactly what it is.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly is out in Japan now. Funimation will bring the film to theaters in the United States on January 16th. Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release is available to stream on FunimationNOW, VRV, and Crunchyroll.