My thoughts on the Power Rangers Franchise
I don't know about you, but it's sad to see a franchise that you grew up watching, reading, or playing become a shell of its former self. Especially if it made an impact on you.
It's also heartbreaking to learn that someone who was a part of that franchise is no longer with us.
Heck, this was my reaction when he lost his Green Ranger powers in the green candle episodes.
Despite my gripes with the character, I have nothing against the actor who played him. He was a decent man at the end of the day. I respect what he has done for this franchise, the fans, and pop culture in general. Whether you love this character or not, he was kind of sort of the face of this franchise. Now that he's gone, there is a void that's hard to fill. To be fair, JDF did express wanting to retire the character to work on his White Dragon movie. ( I hope it won't suffer the same fate as the Order.) So, this would have been an issue regardless of whether he was alive or not. Also, his death could affect the 30th anniversary if he was suppose to appear in the anniversary special. Then again, I heard Hasbro (The company that owns Power Rangers) didn't want to work with him.
After RPM, the franchise has gone downhill; most of the seasons after RPM are the same as far as low quality. Super Sentia is also struggling to the point where that series could discontinue. It's like the writers don't even try to be innovative when they do, it's overshadowed by everything else that's wrong with this franchise; Like bland characters, milking nostalgia, PSA episodes, and bragging out the season by cutting it in half. Well, cutting a season in half could have worked if Lupinranger vs Patranger was adapted, but I digress.
This wouldn't bug me if we didn't have seasons that stood out before. What made In Space, Time Force, and RPM the best seasons is that they were suppose to be the last seasons. Because of that, the creators didn't have to deal with studio restriction nonsense. Why didn't Neo-Saban and Hasbro learn from that? I'm glad Disney didn't have its way with this IP. For those of you who don't know, when Disney had the rights to Power Rangers, they just wanted to air reruns of Power Rangers. After working on two or three seasons, the company dreads continuing this series. That's a shame because Disney gave us good seasons. I'm surprised RPM turned out as good as it did, considering how Disney did Eddie Guzelian (The writer and producer of that series) dirty. Also, what's the point of owning this IP if the company is going to be lazy about it?
Things have gotten worse over the years; Bandia doesn't handle the toyline anymore, the Ranger Nation website is gone, Hyperforce no longer exists, studios skip adapting certain sentia after Super Megaforce because they are hard to adapt (Allegedly), and fans have either disappeared or don't talk about this franchise anymore. The 25th anniversary wouldn't have been relevant if it weren't for Boom Comic's Shattered Grid storyline. Speaking of Boom comics, I lost track of what was going on with those comics after the Necessary Evil story because I wasn't happy with how it ended. I know that they did a crossover between them and Godzilla in the comics. I didn't bother to check that out because I know the writers will make the Megazord look bad. I got enough of that with Death Battle. Also, their crossover with TMNT is ridiculous.
Despite the fanbase not being what it use to be, we still get fan films. I can't comment on how Hasbro is handling this franchise so far because the contract with Neo-Saban didn't expire until two years ago. As far as their toyline goes, I can't comment on that either because I don't collect them. Plus, toy sales haven't been the same since the 90s and Toys "R" Us is not what it use to be. There are three things Hasbro did that I like; they are having the ranger's faces come with the action figures, their version of the power sword, and Lord Zedd's helmet. (I hope the actors and actresses are getting royalty checks for having their faces on the toys.) The fans are sick of MMPR merchandise. I can understand why, but that's the season that sells the most merchandise. I'm curious, did the Legacy toyline replica of the Zeonizer and Gold Ranger staff outsell the MMPR ones? If the answer is no, then I prove my point.
I use to think Power Rangers fans are one of the most civilized fanbases, boy was I wrong.
They were freaking out over Jonathan Entwistle working on the Karate Kid series instead of the next Power Rangers movie for Netflix. The fans didn't like the concept art of the suits for the upcoming Power Rangers series to the point where they gave the designers a hard time. Fans, including me, were not happy with Dino Fury being the next series after Beast Morphers. That's understandable considering we had a dinosaur-themed season not too long ago. What really bothers them is that the green ranger is a female, why!?! This isn't the first time this franchise gender swap. Why is it an issue now? Don't get me started on how the fans act on Twitter toward Simon Bennett. (He's the executive producer of the current Power Rangers.) I'm embarrassed that they're acting like this. I don't know what caused this, but they need to clean up their act. To be fair, the triplets from Power Rangers Zeo are making things worse.
Considering everything that this franchise has been through, it's a shame that it's in the state that it's in due to people not caring. Boom comics and fan films have more passion than Neo-Saban! Heck, do you think the Power Rangers porn video is better than what we're getting now? This is one of the four longest-running kids shows, and these studios can't or won't be creative. You can give us an LGBT ranger, but you won't push the boundaries of kids program like this franchise did in the past. More can be done with this IP when it comes to video games besides making side scrollers and fighting games. I can see this IP work as an RPG.
The franchise has the potential to work as a film series despite its failed attempts. It still bugs me that we didn't get a sequel to the last Power Rangers movie we had. (I know we might get another movie, but it's not going to be a theatrical release.) I blame the general public for why Power Rangers hasn't worked on the big screen, because they can't or won't look past how cheesy it is. Just because this franchise is cheesy, that doesn't mean it should be defined by that. I'm starting to think people are biased toward Power Rangers, I mean, how can you like the MCU, the Lego movies, Scooby Doo, and not like this?
Plus, I'm tired of people acting like Power Rangers is the most embarrassing thing you can grow up watching alongside Barney. I'm not saying you don't have the right to feel that way, but if you haven't watched what fans considered the best seasons, then you shouldn't comment on this IP. This franchise can get dark, scary, and deal with serious issues. Really, if you didn't grow up watching DBZ, Samurai Jack, or Avatar: The Last Airbender, then you're in no position to laugh at this fanbase. As far as a Power Rangers cartoon goes, Mini Force is the closest thing you're going to get to that.
Now, let's get into what I think of Cosmic Fury. I'm worried about this series because this is the 30th Anniversary season. Most of the anniversary stuff is not good. This series is a follow-up to Dino Fury, which hasn't been done since MMPR. I saw clips of Dino Fury, but I didn't watch it because it was just like the other Neo-Saban seasons. I'm not happy that this series brought Lord Zedd back for obvious reasons. Now I wouldn't have minded this if he could be menacing without worrying about backlash from parents, but that wasn't the case.
Cosmic Fury is a space-themed season. We haven't had a bad space-theme season. If this season is just like the previous one, then the streak is broken. I'm happy that Billy and Zack are in this season because I'm curious to see what they've been up to all these years. We also have Rocky, Adam, Kat, and Aisha. It's a shame that we can't get the rest of the OG Rangers because of union rules. The actor who played Jason is in trouble, last I checked. The actress who played Kimberly was overwhelmed by all the attention she was getting the last time she was involved with this franchise. To be fair, she said she didn't agree to the offers they gave her. (That's not a good sign.) Plus, the cast don't like each other; have you noticed that certain people don't do conventions with certain people? This series will feature two new characters. I have an idea of who one of them is, but for the sake of spoilers, I'm going to keep that to myself.
If this series pays tribute to Tommy, I won't have a problem with it as long as it acknowledges everyone else who died. I don't have much to say about this season because we don't have a trailer for this season. Like I said, I didn't watch Dino Fury, so I don't know what direction the creators will go with this season. Another thing I wish this season aired on a different streaming service because Netflix is not doing so well. Also, what's the point of Power Rangers being on Netflix if you can't watch the rest of the seasons anymore? That's all I have to say about this topic for now. Do you think this franchise still has a future, or should it have ended with RPM?
