34 Years Later, Dragon Ball Z’s Coolest Movie Still Holds Up (& Its Villain Needs a Comeback)

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With the opportunity for more stories in the future, and stronger opponents for Goku and Vegeta to fight, it’s the perfect time to bring Frieza’s brother Cooler back to the series and into the official canon from here on out. Helping make that argument is the Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler, which first hit theaters in Japan 34 years ago, on March 7th, 1992. It holds up so well after all this time that it really does cement how the villain needs a fresh coat of paint.

Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler Debuted 34 Years Ago Today

Courtesy of Toei Animation

Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler was the sixth major film in the Dragon Ball Z era of the franchise. Released in Japan back in 1992 before eventually making its way to the United States on DVD and VHS about a decade later, this film was one of the rare sequels we’d get from Dragon Ball Z featuring a returning appearance from a movie villain alongside other heavy hitters from the era like Broly. And like the legendary Super Saiyan, Cooler is not technically part of the official Dragon Ball story timeline.

You think he would be too because like Broly, Cooler has a natural connection to Goku and the main story. It’s actually a bit more concrete because he’s directly related to Frieza, and sought out the one who killed his brother. It wasn’t just for the sake of revenge as it’s not like he cared about his brother that much, but more so wanted to put down the interloper for his pride alone. With this sequel film, he returns after his defeat in Dragon Ball Z: Cooler’s Revenge, and is given a big boost that makes him seemingly invincible.

Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler reveals that Cooler’s scraps had been picked up by a mysterious satellite planet the Big Gete Star. It’s essentially an advanced intelligence that has grow to a planet size thanks to all the debris and technology it has absorbed, and it basically turns Cooler into its avatar of destruction. Meaning that Goku and Vegeta somehow need to fight against an army of Meta-Coolers, who are each as strong as the original Cooler himself. It’s one of the biggest ideas seen in any of the feature film releases, and has some of the best Super Saiyan scenes because of that scope.

Dragon Ball Really Needs to Bring Back Cooler

Courtesy of Toei Animation

It made a lot of sense for Cooler to return in a second Dragon Ball Z film because all of the potential that he offers as a villain to the franchise overall. His ties to Frieza already make him interesting because it opened the family up to an entire family-run evil empire, but also it gives an interesting look at Frieza that we’ve never gotten to see before. Outside of King Cold (which we didn’t see enough of), we haven’t really seen Frieza connect with any real being the villain respected at any level.

With how much stronger Frieza has gotten in the current Dragon Ball Super canon, Cooler coming back with that same level of strength (or even stronger) could immediately make things much more difficult for Goku and Vegeta. Because while Frieza is cool with playing with the two of them knowing he’s already much stronger, Cooler is the more cold blooded of the two. It’s the kind of monstrous power and threat that the current franchise could use a jolt of when it comes back from hiatus.

We have been able to see Akira Toriyama bring Broly into the official Dragon Ball canon with a full reboot to make the character much more interesting than he ever has been before, but that’s also the unfortunate underlying issue that Cooler’s comeback would bring. Toriyama’s no longer around to offer a much different version on the character, but there’s so much potential there that fans wouldn’t mind seeing a new take on the classic villain either way. Failing that, Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler still hits 34 years later.

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