Interview: Christopher Sabat Talks ‘Dragon Ball’ Comeback, Broly’s Future, and Saiyan Lore

When it comes to voice actors, there is only one Voice of Vegeta. The Saiyan has dozens of dub actors around the world, but Christopher Sabat has become the fighter’s biggest advocate. As the English voice for Vegeta, Sabat has seen every side of the surly Saiyan, and he’s just as passionate about the character as he was decades ago. Now, Dragon Ball Z is making a big return to U.S. theaters, and it’s not surprise to hear Sabat is excited for the comeback.

Recently, ComicBook got the chance to speak with Sabat about the impending return of three Dragon Ball Z films to theaters. Toei Animation, Funimation, and Fathom Events will be bringing films like Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan to the big screen, and Sabat had plenty to say about the homecoming.

As you can see below, Sabat was game to talk all things Dragon Ball, and it wasn’t just Broly who came up in the chat. The beloved actor was more than ready to breakdown Vegeta’s parenting and Future Trunk’s under-used sword. So, you can check out the interview below:

Well, first, let’s talk about the Dragon Ball Z movies coming back into theaters. How are you feeling about the resurgence of this franchise and that it is coming back to theaters?

Sabat: I think it’s actually kind of crazy to imagine. It starts reminding me how long Dragon Ball has been around. When I can think about something that I worked on 15 years ago is finally going to make it into the theater, it absolutely kills me that this is coming back. But Broly has always been a huge fan-favorite, and he’s always animated so beautifully in the games and anywhere else he shows up in the Dragon Ball universe. So, I think it does make sense to bring him back, give [the Saiyan] some new light.

What is it exactly about Broly in your opinion makes him such as standout? We don’t see him in the TV show really at all, so we’ve only seen him in the movies. What do you think it is about Broly that’s so awesome?

Sabat: Well, for me, I didn’t direct these three movies. I was involved in them, but I actually didn’t direct them. My favorite though was Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan, and it meant quite a lot to me because it as the first time I actually got to see Vegeta cower. Yeah, there was a little bit of it when he was facing off against Freeza, but I’ve never seen Vegeta panic before. I’ve never seen Vegeta panic quite like he did in the original Legendary Super Saiyan film. There’s something about that character that just effective.

You did always wonder like, “Man, was there anybody?” There were [things happening] during that time the Saiyan planet was destroyed. Who would’ve survived? Broly is fascinating, because … you just don’t expect him to be as strong as he is. Of course, Vegeta all this time has been, at least in the Dragon Ball Z series, was just hoping that he or Goku were going be the ones to be the Legendary Super Saiyan. Then it turns out like, “Oh, gosh. Maybe it’s not us. Maybe it’s somebody else.” That’s a terrifying thing for them and for the fans.

So, Vegeta hasn’t gotten a super centric arc yet in the franchise. So, as somebody who’s familiar with the character, if you had the ability to pick a perfect Vegeta story, what would you want it to be about?

Sabat: Man, if we want to include all of the current episodes, [there’s] always been this dream of mine, and we got pretty close when it came to Goku Black. It’s always been this almost fantasy of mine for Goku to actually become an evil character. We’ve joked about, “What if Goku fell on his head again?” Then, Vegeta would have to convince him that the humans were worth saving because he’s had such a development in his character over the years. Vegeta is now a guy you know is going have your back. He’s got the Earth’s back.

He went through a pretty brutal phase, especially if you want to consider Majin Vegeta where he almost just gave everything up and went back to the way he was before. But now he’s a changed man, and I would love to see a situation where he’s having to be the voice of humanity. He has become such a humanity-centric character when he was a clearly not human, [and] he’s shown a love for humanity over the years. So, I think that would be a fun thing to explore.

So, what is it that you think has made Vegeta more human? I know that’s a really existential question, but what is it that you think prompted that shift in his character?

Sabat: As cheesy as this is, because I can relate to this, I think it really comes down to having a child of your own. Like having someone that you created… that you know you got ot protect. Before, Vegeta had nothing; He had a terrible childhood, he was raised by Freeza. His father didn’t seem to be that nice of a guy to begin with. You didn’t have a great childhood. I really believe that it was Bulma and Trunks… having a family, and really appreciating what it is to be in a loving relationship and a loving society that encourages people to find their own way and fall in love and have kids. I think for him to experience that on Earth, that changed him quite a bit.

As someone who’s familiar with the Dragon Ball franchise, I wanted to ask what your opinion is about the differences and/or similarities you’ve see between the two versions of Broly going around. How do you compare the old Broly to what we’ve seen of the new one?

Sabat: Just to be clear, I haven’t seen any more that you guys have because that movie is not done yet in Japan.

It’s very difficult to tell. When I first heard Broly was going to be animated in a slightly different way, I was expecting something with a little bit more of a dramatic shift. I don’t know if they’ve changed his look so dramatically that it’ll be too much of a shock for people who are familiar with the old Broly, especially once he powers up cause that’s the two forms [fan see] in the trailer..

From supporting documents, you kind of see that you got a younger meeker form of Broly, and then the powered-up version of Broly. I’d say the powered-up version of Broly looks very similar to what we can remember in everything else.

Where I’m hoping to see a difference is in dialing in a little bit more [to] where Broly came from, and how he’s come to be who he is, how he relates to Paragus, and how they ended up separated to begin with. That’s what I’m most excited about… some of the storytelling that’ll be involved. It’ll also be very interesting to hear Akira Toriyama’s vision of what he thinks the story is. In essence, it is his story, and it’ll be interesting to see the way he wants to tell it.

Obviously, one of the films coming back to theaters is Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, and that lets fans in on Gogeta. A lot of fans want the character to make a comeback, so is that something you think could happen for Gogeta? What would your ideal comeback for the character be?

Sabat: Oh man, I’d love to see some Gogeta. What I would find funny is that he’s such a badass, strong character. It’s funny that Vegeta hates to fuse as much as he does. So, it’s weird how hesitant he is.

He never wants to do it, even though these guys are so obsessed with reaching the greatest power possible. It seems like that’s secretly his fantasy, to fuse with Goku constantly. When someone hates you so much, you think, “Maybe they have pretty serious feelings for you.”

Of course I don’t know yet, but I can definitely see, or I would love to see a fusion on the big screen… to imagine what it is going be like. The feature is going be pretty epic.

So, we have these three movies coming back to theaters now. But if you had a choice of any Dragon Ball movie to bring back to theaters, is there a particular one that you would want fans to experience again?

Sabat: If I had my choice, I absolutely love The History Of Trunks. I like any involving the ‘Trunks’ saga. I really wish they had spent more time in the ‘Trunks’ universe. I feel they could’ve spun his whole story into a lot of material if they really wanted to because he’s such a cool character. Plus, he has a sword… I mean, c’mon.

Finally, in terms of the Dragon Ball Super dub, we’re about to enter the Tournament of Power. So, what can you tell me about how the dub is going to be approaching this epic finale for the series?

Sabat: Right now, we are approaching the largest casting surge of my entire career. I literally have a poster in the office that has the entire Universe Survival tournament character list. It is in the 100’s, like it’s just so many characters.

I think the thing that people should be most excited about is to see what new voices pop up and what these new characters are. A lot of people, they watch the subtitled version [and] they already know what happens. But I think they come back to the dub because… well, first of all, it’s their native language. The second is that we’re really trying to bring something extra to it because you hear what our ideas of what the voices should sound like are. I think that’s a fun thing to look forward to.

So, what do you think about Sabat’s takes on Dragon Ball? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime! You can check out Fathom Events’ pages for Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan and its Fusion Reborn double-feature here!