Dragon Ball: Krilin's Adventure would be a 2028 American buddy fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Michael B. Jordan and produced by Paramount Pictures, Toei Company, and Amblin Entertainment. It would be a sequel to Dragon Ball, which would be based on the Japanese franchise of the same name. Jordan would also produce the film, while the film would be written by Chrsitina Hudson, Jordan, and Michael Arndt The film would feature Neel Sethi, Chloe Bennet, Simu Liu, Jackie Chan, and the voices of Zeno Robinson and Aleks Le reprising their roles from the previous film, while Max Charles, Nina Lu, Nicholas Hoult, Chris Cooper, Michael Arden, Alice Lee, Kari Wahlgren, and Scott Menville would join the cast.
Akira Toriyama would first announce a sequel to Dragon Ball during the San Diego Comic-Con 2024, with Jordan set to as director. The previous film's cast would be announced in early 2026, while the new additions to the cast would be announced in the following months. Filming would occur from October 2026 to March 2027.
The film would be released on July 23, 2028, and would became a critical and commercial success, grossing 1.23 billion dollars over a budget of 177 millions, and being praised for its writing, humor, performances, visual effects, and music, with many critics calling it a "worthy successor" to the previous film.
A third film in the series, Dragon Ball: Tao. would be released on May 2030, and would become an even greater critical and commercial success than its predecesors.
Synopsis[]
One year after stopping Emperor Pilaf from taking over the worl, Goku now finds himself being traned by Master Roshi along with a young boy named Krillin. While Krillin's disdain for Goku is clear, the two must learn to work together when they find themselves hunted by the Red Ribbon, an evil organization who wants to take a Dragon Ball from them in order to take over the world. They soon met a young girl named Suno, who may be able to help them with their problems, and may be the key for Krillin to discover his inner power, just in time to stop the Red Ribbon from taking over the world.
Cast[]
- Neel Sethi as Goku, a monkey-tailed boy who has spent his whole life in the mountains, before eventually choosing to be trained by Master Roshi.
- Max Charles as Krillin:
A young monk who left his temple after being bullied, and Goku's new rival. Charles would describe his character as the "typical guy who acts like the bad guy because inside he's insecure 'cause he was treated the same way he treats people". Krillin's arc in the film would be based on a revelation during the Tournament Saga which revealed that Krillin was bullied before, which would inspire the production crew to further develop that aspect of the character's past. The production team would investigate how people who were bullied react in order to have an accurate representation of the effects of bullying in the character. - Nina Lu as Suno:
A young and optimistic girl whose village was attacked by the Red Ribbon Army. Director Steven Spielberg would say that her arc in the film would consist of "discovering that the world is not full of rainbows and colors, but realizing it can be like that". - Jackie Chan as Master Roshi, an old martial arts master who trains Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha.
- Nicholas Hoult as General White:
A young general in the Red Ribbon, and Commander Red's most trusted ally. Hoult desctibed him as "a walking trauma trogger for Krillin" due to his personality reminding him if the bullies he met at the temple. - Chloe Bennet as Bulma, a highly intelligent girl from the city who befriended Goku during her journey to gather the Dragon Balls, and who now lives with him in Kame House. Bennet would describe Bulma as "Suno's mentor", as she is "a girl who as seen the world and knows it very well".
- Chris Cooper as General Red, the leader of the Red Ribbon Army.
- Simu Liu as Yamcha, a former desert bandit who choose to be trained by Master Roshi.
- Michael Arden as Android 8:
An Android at the service of the Red Ribbon Army, who is clnstantly abuded by General White. Producer Akio Iyoku would explain that the character "is there to showcase Krillin's growth, but also grows himself". Arden would draw inspiration for his performance from his work in the Disney stage musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame (2014). - Alice Lee as Launch, a prisioner of tje Red Ribbon Army with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Director Michael B. Jordan decided to incorpirate the character due to feeling she would be a good fit "with a few tweaks" due to the film's themes of bullying and abuse, her having DID, and DID being a product of abuse-involved trauma. Lee compared Blonde Launch to The Mandalorian in that "she has a heart, but is mostly looking out fir herself".
Voices[]
- Zeno Robinson as Puar, an antropomorphic cat and shapeshifter who is Yamcha's best friend, whom Puar always tries to advice to make the right choice, to various degrees of success.
- Aleks Le as Oolong:
An antropomorphic pig and shapeshifter. - Kari Wahlgren as Hahaoya: An anthropomorphic wolf and Suno's adoptive mother. Wahlgren said that she is "the light in Suno's world" and that the two share a close bond "that makes the adopted part irrelevant".
- Scott Menville as Meishu: An anthropomorphic lion and chief of Jingle Village, who was captured by the Red Ribbon Army.
Music[]
Michael Giacchino would return from the previous film to compose the sequel's score, which would contain motifs and elements from the anime's original score by Shunsuke Kikuchi. Goku's theme from the previous film would be featured in the sequel, throught it would be changed to sound "emotionally more mature, yet still very naive and jungle-like" to reflect Goku's growth in the previous film. Krilin's theme would be "a theme that sound as that of a jerk, but becomes sadder and sadder, but ultimately becomes hopeful" as the story progresses.
Reception[]
Critical reception[]
The film would have an aproval rating of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The critical consensus would read, "A reflective sequel that moves away from its predecessor enough to give fans an enjoyable fresh story in an established world, Krillin's Adventure is a story that makes way to both laughts and thoughts". On Metacritc, the film would have an weighted average score of 79 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Sequel[]
- Main article: Dragon Ball: Tao
On May 27, 2027 it would be announced that a sequel to Dragon Ball: Krillin's Adventure would be in the works. During the San Diego Comic-Con, producer James Gunn confirmed that a sequel, titled Dragon Ball:Tao, based on the Commander Red Saga, would be in development, with Destin Daniel Crettom set to direct the film from an screenplay by David Callaham.
Trivia[]
- According to Spielberg, the reason the Muscle Tower would be significantly taller than in the manga would be "to give White the Disney Villain Death treatment".