From its dark tone to the fundamental changes made to some key characters, Dean Israelite's Power Rangers showed an unprecedented willingness to go left where the original series went right. One of the biggest changes made to the mythology came with the implied romance between Jason Scott (Dacre Montgomery) and Kimberly Hart (Naomi Scott), much to the chagrin of Tommy fans everywhere. However, a deleted scene from the superhero reboot shows a cut kiss between the two characters, and it's clear that their romance was initially a far more overt plot point. Check out the deleted scene below to see for yourself.
CinemaBlend has obtained that exclusive deleted scene ahead of the upcoming home release of Power Rangers, and it's one of the film's quiet (yet most compelling) moments. The sequence in question takes place towards the end of the movie's second act, when Kimberly sneaks into Jason's house to talk to him about why she ended up in detention when they first met. Although the original scene ends with them simply going off to meet up with the rest of the Rangers, this version of the sequence ends with them locking lips and sharing a far more intimate moment before they sneak off to battle Elizabeth Banks' Rita Repulsa.
The rationale for cutting this kiss between Kimberly and Jason has already been established. Director Dean Israelite spoke out in interviews around the time of the film's theatrical release and admitted that test audiences actively disliked it, and the overwhelming consensus was that it shouldn't be in the movie. It's not hard to understand why fans would want a kiss between Jason and Kimberly cut from the final version of a film. In the classic Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series, Kimberly is romantically linked to fan-favorite Green Ranger Tommy Oliver -- who is teased at the end of the film. Changing her love interest from Tommy to Jason is a massive shift in status quo for this franchise, and likely didn't sit too well with purists.
Of course, there's ample room for Power Rangers to explore this romance if we're lucky enough to see a sequel. The cast of the film has spoken at length about their desire to see a female Tommy Oliver in a follow-up, which could potentially free up Kimberly and Jason to date in this version of the Power Rangers universe. It's not the version of the story that many of us grew up with, but then again, Dean Israelite's reboot changed almost everything else in the Power Rangers mythos. Why should this classic romance be any different?
That said, we will have to wait and see whether or not a sequel will come together at all. Power Rangers underperformed domestically, and in total it has only earned around $140 million worldwide. There's still a chance that a sequel will materialize, but if it doesn't, we will be left wondering what could've happened between Jason and Kimberly.
Power Rangers will be available, via streaming, on June 13, then will make its debut on 4K, Blu-Ray, and DVD later this month on June 27. Beyond that, there are still plenty of highly anticipated blockbusters set to hit theaters this year, so make sure to check out our movie premiere guide for more information on all of them!
