The manga adaptation of Dragon Ball Super‘s Super Hero film has finally offered an explanation for one of the film’s bigger plot holes, via its prequel chapters. The plot hole itself centers on Dr. Hedo’s recognition of the Super Saiyan transformation.
In the movie, as Gohan goes Super Saiyan as he battles Gamma 1, in order to keep up with the android’s relentless stamina. Dr. Hedo recognizes the Super Saiyan state when Gohan utilizes it, despite having established no apparent familiarity with the Saiyans personally, and only being shown a distant, low-resolution video of Future Trunks. While it may not be impactful on the story of the movie, the scene did have some fans a bit disgruntled. However, the latest manga chapter explicitly offers an explanation, and it’s dependent on the special prequel chapters added earlier.
Dr. Hedo Saw Super Saiyan from Goten and Trunks
In chapter 90, the third prequel chapter, Goten and Trunks are battling a dinosaur android alongside Krillin in their “Saiyaman X-1” and “X-2” personas. As they deliver the final blow, both young warriors go Super Saiyan, right in front of Dr. Hedo. In chapter 94, Dr. Hedo’s dialog is altered a bit from the film, noting that he’s seen this transformation before, alluding to that particular scene from chapter 90. The same chapter also explains how Dr. Hedo was arrested in the first place, as he is already in jail at the start of the film. It even suggests that certain aspects of Gamma 1 and Gamma 2’s look were based on Goten and Trunks’ Saiyaman costumes.
One can’t help but wonder if this prequel material was written before the film’s release; while the Saiyaman storyline isn’t very well connected to the rest of the film, it would share a thematic connection of superheroes, just as it does here. It’s possible that the prequel chapters were based on scenes originally planned for the movie that were cut at some point (likely early on), but the concepts were recycled for use in these prequel chapters. Of course, it’s also possible that these were created after the fact, as it outwardly appears to be, or even some mix of both original ideas and cut ideas from the movie.
While it’s ultimately not too important of a plot hole in the grand scheme of the story, it is nice that this manga adaptation went back and explained it away. It shows an attention to detail which a less-invested creator might not have in their work, and proves that Dragon Ball Super is in good hands, even throughout this adaptation story arc.
