Hello! I’m Ben B. Singer, the creator and showrunner of Death Battle, and the voice of Wiz. I’m also the writer and director of Goku VS Superman. A lot of questions have popped up since announcing it, so I’m happy to answer some here:
WHY MAKE A PART THREE?
I know not everyone will see it this way, but to me this is not part three. It’s separate from the originals, the second time we’ve fully analyzed this match-up since 2013, and the first time we’re doing so with a full team. The episode can speak for itself, but I do want to share how we got here.
I made Goku VS Superman 1 over 10 years ago, when Death Battle was a different production. Most episodes were made by only 2 or 3 people and I was even in college at the time. Death Battle season 1 is unique in that it was originally meant to be a dumb joke: “Isn’t it funny how we’re doing such absurd research?” Yeah, clearly the wrong idea, but that’s why episodes like Zelda VS Peach, Starscream VS Rainbow Dash, Pikachu VS Blanka, and more are the way they are. I learned a lot from GvS1, and I like it, but it's obviously flawed. I think the ‘man without limits versus the man who breaks limits’ concept is interesting, but is ironically a rather limited way to approach the characters.
I didn’t intend Goku VS Superman 2 to be a rematch, but a sort of epilogue. It exists because it was proposed as a special event for the ScrewAttack Gaming Convention. (ScrewAttack was the company that owned Death Battle at the time.) I agreed to make it because we had 20+ minutes of material cut from GvS1 to work with, Torrian was now part of the team and could make an awesome animated battle, and I was obligated to contribute to SGC. I didn’t realize GvS2 would essentially become its main attraction, leading to expectations that my intent could not meet. In my frustration, I made a lackluster episode that accidently derides Superman and unintentionally kicks Dragon Ball fans while they’re down. I should have been more perceptive of the situation, and I don’t like what GvS2 became. I think it's my worst episode. On a positive note, Torrian’s animation is fantastic! It was also our first time working with Brandon Yates, who is scoring the new one!
It sounds silly, but Goku VS Superman is a prominent part of my life, and I want to make an episode that does it justice.
DIDN'T YOU SAY GOKU CAN'T EVER WIN?
With the old perspective, yes, but modern Death Battle takes a different approach to determining victors. What happened in the originals has no bearing on this one.
HOW'S THE RESEARCH?
Since the originals, we’ve brought in a team of researchers far more acquainted in versus deliberations than I ever was. One of them, Ultraguy, has taken point in examining every Goku and Superman manga/comic that exists. I can't shout out enough how much he put into this episode. Internally, we've been bouncing around the idea of doing Goku VS Superman since early 2020. Ultraguy knew how much I wanted to do it, so he took initiative and started research way back then. That was over 3 years ago. Of course, Ultraguy was only one of many voices when determining who wins, and others were also involved in research, calculations, and more.
WHAT VERSIONS OF GOKU AND SUPERMAN?
There’s a funny role-reversal here. Last time we did this, Goku essentially had one mainline canon while Superman’s was split between multiple eras. Nowadays, it's sort of opposite. Given how Dragon Ball Super has three different continuities between movies, anime, and manga, we’re electing to smush them together in a similar manner to how Superman’s main canon now works. This technically also includes Super Dragon Ball Heroes, but I'll let the episode explain that.
Side note, it's commonly thought that Xeno Goku is far and away the most powerful version of Goku, so I understand why people are asking us to use Xeno exclusively. However, when Goku and Xeno Goku fought in Heroes canon, Goku won thanks to Ultra Instinct. So... food for thought. (Simplified context; CC Goku is from a Super timeline, whereas Xeno is from a GT one.)
WILL IT TOP THE ORIGINAL BATTLE?
We aren't trying to necessarily outdo the original. I've had a different vision for this episode since the beginning, and I think you’ll understand what I mean when you see it. We also have a talented team of animators and artists working hard to make it look gorgeous. If you haven’t seen our recent episodes, we’ve come a looong way since the days of low-res sprites poking each other!
WHO ARE THE VOICE ACTORS?
I’m excited to have Michael Kovach as the voice of Goku, and Xander Mobus as the voice of Superman. Both are big fans of their characters and brought a lot of passion and input to their roles. Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about MasakoX and ItsJustSomeRandomGuy, both of whom have always been essential to this match-up. Keep an ear out for them!
WAIT, WHY ISN’T THIS THE SEASON FINALE?
Oh ho ho just you wait.
Wrapping this up, it feels surreal to do this again, especially with the team we’ve built over the years. I can’t thank them enough for pouring their time, heart, and soul into this project. As for you who have read this far, thanks for giving this a chance. We certainly knew reactions to the announcement would be mixed at best, so the trust and understanding I’ve seen has been appreciated and uplifting. Thank you so much for your support, and I hope you enjoy the episode on December 4th!