Ever since Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers debuted in 1993, the Power Rangers franchise has maintained a consistent presence on television, but in 2017, the Mighty Morphin’ well was revisited on the big screen. New versions of Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Trini and Zack were recruited by Zordon and Alpha 5 to defeat Rita Repulsa, and the goal was for these teenagers with attitude to keep fighting the forces of evil across multiple sequels.
Alas, the last Power Rangers movie was met with mixed-to-negative critical reaction and underwhelmed at the box office, thus cutting the chances down of one sequel, let alone many, down significantly. More than two years later, Stranger Things star Dacre Montgomery, who played Jason Scott, the Red Ranger, has revealed that a new Power Rangers movie is being made, but it won’t see him or his cast mates returning.
A new cast for the next Power Rangers movie naturally screams ‘reboot,’ and that does make sense given that the 2017 movie failed to generate enough buzz and box office returns. However, rather than delivering a full reset, Hasbro would be wise to have the new Power Rangers movie set in the same continuity as the last one, thus serving as more of a relaunch. Below are the main reasons why this approach should be taken.
It’s Too Soon To Do Mighty Morphin’ Again
Right now it sounds like the next Power Rangers movie is still being workshopped over at Hasbro, but for the sake of argument, let’s assume the company officially announces the project next year. Allow two-three years for the movie to be made, and by the time it comes out, it will have been five-six years since the previous Power Rangers movie came out.
It’d be one thing if more than two decades had passed between these two movies, as was the case between the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers movie and 2017’s Power Rangers, but if it’s only a half decade and change, that’s way too soon to adapt this corner of the Power Rangers franchise again, as the last Power Rangers movie will still be relatively fresh in many people’s minds. In another two decades, maybe we can try giving the Mighty Morhpin’ mythology another spin, but for now, it’s better off exploring different kinds of Power Rangers.
It’s Not Worth Trying To Replicate The Previous Cast’s Dynamic
Make no mistake, the 2017 Power Rangers movie had its issues, particularly with the story. But if there was one area where it shined, it was the main characters and their dynamic with one another. Power Rangers took the core personalities of the original Mighty Morphin’ heroes and expanded upon them to make these new versions much more interesting. It would have been great to these five become even closer with one another in one or more sequels, but it’s not to be.
Again, with a longer passage of time, maybe it’d be interesting to see new adaptations of Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Trini and Zack, but for right now, it’s the better call to go with a new lineup of characters who have their own unique rapport with one another. Well, new in the sense that they’ve only had their sole TV depictions thus far. On film, it’d be breaking new ground, and those characters are also in need of modernization/fleshing out.
New Teams And Powers Are A Trademark Of The Franchise
One of the reasons Power Rangers has stayed on television for so long is continually changing up the cast. Ever since Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy, there’s been a new team of Power Rangers introduced every one-two years. With all those new faces also comes new power sets, with themes ranging from animals and ninjas to magic and time travel law enforcement. Even if you weren’t alive when the original Power Rangers were kicking ass, there’s been a few Ranger teams every generation since then.
Throw in the fact that there have been so many Power Rangers team-ups over the years, and you can easily introduce a new team of Rangers who exists in this film continuity rather than having them exist in yet another separate universe. Take advantage of the time gap between the two movies by having the original heroes having all left the Ranger life behind long ago. So when a new threat comes to Earth, new heroes can come in and fight the forces of evil, and there’s no shortage of established power sets you can give them, though I’m inclined to go with Zeo since the Zeo Crystal is already established.
The Last Movie Paved The Way For Lord Zedd
Just like in the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers TV series, the 2017 team’s first adversary was Rita Repulsa, and while she nearly succeeded in destroying Angel Grove, the Rangers managed to vanquish her with their Zords. However, before she was knocked into space, Rita told Jason that others would invade Earth. That was the perfect set-up for Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers’ next main villain, Lord Zedd, and the plan was to introduce him in Power Rangers 2.
Obviously a full-blown Power Rangers reboot could still use Lord Zedd as its antagonist, but its better to have that history from the earlier movie established. Years after Rita Repulsa tried to take the Zeo Crystal, Lord Zedd arrives to finish what she started, and since the original Power Rangers are no longer active, a new team of teenagers with attitude to take their place. Whether this Zedd is directly or indirectly connected to Rita, he can lead an even bigger attack on Earth and be significantly more intimidating that his predecessor.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for any major updates concerning the next Power Rangers movie, which will ideally arrive sooner rather than later. In the meantime, look through our 2019 release schedule to plan your visits to the movie theater in the near future accordingly. And if you want to see what the Power Rangers are up to on TV nowadays, Power Rangers Beast Morphers airs on Nickelodeon.
