Dragon Ball Super: Broly reimagines the tale of the Legendary Super Saiyan Broly and brings the character into the franchise’s current continuity. The film also realigns Goku’s origin story even closer to that of Superman.
In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Freeza destroys Planet Vegeta, the home of the Saiyan race, for fear of one day falling at the hands of the Legendary Super Saiyan. After learning about their race’s impending doom, but before Planet Vegeta is destroyed, Goku’s parents, Gine and Bardock, steal a space pod and ship Goku off to another planet where he can thrive. That Planet? Earth. Bardock chooses Earth as Goku’s new home because its inhabitants have low power levels and primitive tech, which would allow Goku, at this point still referred to by his birth name Kakarot, to thrive as a Saiyan warrior.
If any of this is ringing a bell, that might be because Goku’s Dragon Ball Super: Broly origin closely resembles the origin of Superman. As you might recall, Kal-El is sent away as a baby from his home planet of Krypton after his parents also learn of the impending collapse of their planet and ultimately all of the Kryptonian race.
What do you think of the similarities between the origins of Goku and Superman? Do you call this a nod or is Akira Toriyama clearly ripping off of DC Comics? Let us know in the comments below!
It may be a while before we see another Superman film but Warner Bros. and DC Films have many projects currently being developed including The Batman, The Flash standalone film, Green Lantern Corps, Black Adam, Supergirl, New Gods, and Nightwing.
The DCEU continues this month with Aquaman which is now playing and will be followed by Shazam! on April 5, 2019, Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), on February 7, 2020, and Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020. A standalone Joker film set outside of the DC Films universe starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Clown Prince of Crime is also set to hit theaters October 4, 2019.
Source: Dragon Ball Super: Broly
