Disney is slowly but surely working towards getting together the full cast for their live-action Dragon Ball movie based on the massively popular anime and manga of the same name. With Hollywood’s last attempt at adapting the franchise resulting in box office failure and drawing criticism for putting white actors in Asian roles, Disney’s apparently taking care to cast Asian actors in the leads this time. And according to our sources – the same ones who told us the Mouse House was developing an Aladdin sequel and that a Green Lantern show was coming to HBO Max, both of which we now know to be true – Henry Golding of Crazy Rich Asians fame is on the studio’s wishlist to play Vegeta.
For those unfamiliar, Prince Vegeta’s a character who starts out as the primary antagonist in the series, coming to Earth to challenge Goku and enslave the planet, before becoming a secondary protagonist, after his defeat at the hands of Goku and their eventual teaming up to take on the galactic despot, Lord Frieza.
Belonging to a royal family, impulsive, hot-headed and frequently uncaring towards those around him while in the heat of battle, Vegeta’s his own unique version of a crazy rich Asian, and one of the most popular characters from the series. Think Wolverine, only less of a nice guy and with enough power to split apart a planet with his bare hands.
Meanwhile, Henry Golding is a Malaysian-English actor and model who’s been making a name for himself for many years now, first as a television host on BBC before making a jump to the big screen in supporting roles, until finally his big breakout moment came with the release of the romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians, where he played the role of Nick Young, who was one-half of the lead romantic pair for the film.
Portraying a complex, often hateful but much-beloved character like Vegeta for Dragon Ball would be a challenge for any actor, and while it remains to be seen whether Golding will be given the opportunity by the studio to tackle the role, we’d certainly like to see him try. Given that he’s only said to be on a wishlist right now, it’s unclear if he’s been formally approached and obviously, the project is only in the earliest stages of development, but as soon as we learn more, we’ll be sure to let you know.