You may not know, but an animated Power Rangers reboot was planned for release back in 2015. While the project was ultimately canceled, official posters for the movie, which was seemingly titled Power Rangers the Animated Movie, have now been unearthed. And no doubt they will have fans everywhere attempting to shout “It’s Morphing Time!” through tears and cracking voices. You can check out the posters below while you wonder why an animated Power Rangers movie or series has never happened…
The posters were shared by X/Twitter user @Jinsakuu, with a trailer for the Power Rangers animated movie having also now resurfaced and demonstrating how well the beloved property would translate into a cartoon.
Power Rangers the Animated Movie, which was also known as Power Rangers: Origins and Power Rangers 3D at the time, would have morphed the original 90s live-action series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, into CGI animation. Produced by Saban Brands, ZAG Inc., and Onyx Films, the project was highly secretive, but would reportedly have followed the original team Jason Lee Scott, Billy Cranston, Kimberly Ann Hart, Trini Kwan, Zack Taylor, retelling their origin as they become the Power Rangers.
The movie would no doubt have been released with the intention of launching a new, animated Power Rangers franchise. However, plans were instead drawn up for a big screen live-action movie, which was released in 2017, halting production on the animated reboot.
What’s Next for the Power Rangers Franchise?
The Power Rangers franchise first began back in 1993 with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and introduced the concept of a group of high school teenagers from Angel Grove, California who are called upon by the extraterrestrial Zordon to defend the Earth from various villains as the titular Power Rangers. Featuring all manner of martial arts action, high school drama, and giant mecha, the Power Rangers has since become a global phenomenon, expanding into spinoffs, movies, comics, video games, and everything in between.
The 2017 movie, which also acted as a reboot as was intended as the beginning of a new franchise, was sadly met with mixed reviews from critics and faltered at the box office. Bringing an end to any plans for a sequel, which would have introduced Tommy Oliver as the iconic Green Ranger.
The last we heard of a new adventure in the world of the Power Rangers was a planned live-action series from Netflix. Sadly, the project is no longer moving ahead, with Power Rangers owner Hasbro Entertainment now looking for “a new partner” with which to develop the project. The Netflix series had been in development for some time, with Jessica Jones producer and Supernatural writer Jenny Klein on board as showrunner. The show was being developed in collaboration with Jonathan Entwistle (The End of the F***ing World, next year’s Karate Kid movie) with the intention of – that’s correct – building a new franchise.
Various
Power Rangers
shows and movies from across the franchise are available to stream on
Netflix
.