How Will Dragon Ball Super's New Movie Fit Into The Series' Past?

Dragon Ball Super has a new movie coming out in 2022, and as thrilling as it is to see the franchise moving forward again, Dragon Ball fans still have a lot of questions. So far, series creator Akira Toriyama has teased that the next Dragon Ball Super movie will feature "some extreme and entertaining bouts which may feature an unexpected character," as well as "unexplored territory in terms of the visual aesthetics to give the audience an amazing ride." In terms of story, Toei has teased a "large-scale story that would build on the enthusiastic response for the previous theatrical series."

But how will the next Dragon Ball Super movie fit into the larger timeline of the series' past? That answer could determine a lot about how this next story plays out.

It must be remembered that, at the end of the day, all the events of Dragon Ball Super must fit into a timeline that is set before the final epilogue of Dragon Ball Z's final episode. That's when Goku takes off to train Uub (the young incarnation of Buu), a being that Dragon Ball Super's manga has made clear is powered by unique godly energy.

So, whatever epic story Dragon Ball Super's next movie tells, and whatever unexpected characters show up, it still has to be self-contained enough not to throw off anything about the series (current) ultimate ending.

The previous movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly also made the bold move of retconning the origin story stories of Goku, Vegeta, and Broly, as well as their fathers (Bardock, King Vegeta, and Paragus), and Freeza's connection to it all. The manga has similarly done a lot of retconning and expansion on everything from Freeza and the Saiyans' past deeds to the true origin of the Namekian race, and how many Dragon Balls exist in the universe. So, there's every bit as much potential for the next Dragon Ball Super movie to also play with the past as much as it does the present, and help redefine the nature of the series or our understanding of it.

A lot of Dragon Ball Super fans are calling for the next movie to continue the expansion of Freeza's mythos by bringing his brother Cooler back for a revamped appearance on the big screen. Cooler is much like Broly in that he's an iconic Dragon Ball character who has never gotten his due in the canon - so a feature film exploring more of Freeza's side of the mythos (and featuring Cooler) would hit the necessary marks.

Dragon Ball Super's new movie is coming in 2022. The manga releases new chapters free online every month.