Can Dragonball Z Be Done In Live Action?

[Shinobi Shaw]

So who would be cast as Goku and Vegeta? Would you make them Asian? And if you did, that SSJ look might turn some people away.

But then if you don’t have them played by Asian actors, that could rattle the cultural appropriation police. A lot of factors here why doing this live action, is just not a good look.

 

[Roose Bolton]

Arguably you could cast actors of any race to play the Saiyans, in the same way you could cast actors of any race to play Kryptonians. Naturally Asian-Americans would want them to be Asian (the Japanese wouldn’t care in the slightest), but I think given it’s extreme popularity with Latin America, I could see them casting Hispanic actors as a viable alternative.

But this is part of the reason why I think a live action Dragonball would be uncomfortable. There’s a lot in Dragonball that, while goofy and generally good natured, wouldn’t exactly jive with the current sociopolitical landscape. A lot of the humour wouldn’t translate, and someone like Master Roshi would just trigger people.

 

[2kt09]

I take Kung Fu Hustle's style and link it to DBZ you got yourself a movie

We did indeed get THAT movie.

 

[Da-Scribe]

I remember @Da-Scribe bringing this up for a reason

Film sets a perfect template for how SSJs and Namekians can be realized. Yes cast Asians in the lead. No it won’t matter that they go blonde for SSJ. That’s only one of many forms they take anyway.