What We Want in a Hasbro ‘Power Rangers’ Movie

With all the talk around a new Power Rangers movie igniting hopes and cautious optimism around the world, we figured it was time to figure out exactly what we want to see in a sequel.

While Hasbro is keen to capitalize on its new franchise, there are still some big questions that need answers, like if the new movie will take the baton from the 2017 reboot or start all over with a new canon and cast. Unfortunately, we don’t know the answers to those questions yet, but many of our wishes for a new movie can be applied to either scenario.

Some of these wishes are what Hasbro should keep or change from the reboot, while others are more about how the company should handle the rollout and marketing. Everyone has their own opinion on what worked and what didn’t the last time, but what we all can agree on is that we want this new film to work and launch a movie franchise. In other words, we might not agree on how best to accomplish that goal, but in essence, we are all on the same team.

The 2017 Power Rangers reboot was produced on a $100 million dollar budget and brought in over $85 million domestically at the box office. It added another $56 million overseas for a worldwide total of $142 million. It isn’t known what the advertising budget was for the film, but that return isn’t likely to be what Lionsgate or Saban was hoping for.

Power Rangers starred Dacre Montgomery (Jason/Red Ranger), Becky G (Trini/Yellow), RJ Cyler (Billy/Blue), Ludi Lin (Zack/Black Ranger), and Naomi Scott (Kimberly/Pink Ranger), as well as Bryan Cranston (Zordon), Elizabeth Banks (Rita Repulsa) and Bill Hader (Alpha 5). Whether they would return or not is up in the air at the moment, but even if they don’t they serve as a great example of what Hasbro should look for.

With that in mind here’s what we want from a new Power Rangers movie!

Return Of The Cast

The first wish on the list is getting the original movie cast back. The cast and their take on the characters was one of the best parts about the reboot and was celebrated even by the film’s critics.

To be clear, this would be a recommendation regardless of whether the film is a reboot of the first or if Hasbro decides to overhaul it. Even with everything else new, there’s no doubt in my mind that the original cast could work its magic once again, though the biggest obstacle to that dream just might be time.

Time in the sense that since the film debuted the cast has gone off to do other high profile projects, so it might be difficult to get them all back together for another go-round. Hopefully, it is possible, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Diversity Matters

Power Rangers has always been one of the more diverse franchises, and the movie followed suit with one of the most diverse casts ever. If Hasbro is going to reboot the cast, it’s important to keep with that tradition.

The film made another important step by being the first superhero movie to feature an LGBTQ hero, and that’s an important bar to meet for the new cast as well. Regardless of race, ethnicity, age, or sex, anyone can find someone to relate to and invest in when it comes to Power Rangers, and it’s one of the reasons the franchise has stuck around for so long. We’re hoping to see another example of this whenever the new movie hits.

More Time In The Suits

In a true case of a strength also being a weakness, the Power Rangers reboot excelled at character development at the detriment of time in the suits. While we don’t want the next film to over correct, we do want the ratio a bit more balanced.

We loved getting to know the characters and actually seeing them grow over the course of the film, but if we’re being honest there just wasn’t a proper amount of time given to actually being Power Rangers and fighting in the suits, something the characters and the audience had been working towards so to speak for the entire film.

We don’t want to lose what made that film special, but we also want to see Rangers looking cool and kicking the snot out of Putties too. Plus, if that action looks great, it will help sell a mess of toys, and that will only help get more movies. So really, a win-win…uh, win.

Iconic But Modern

The costumes from the reboot certainly have their fans, but they didn’t necessarily appeal to the masses. Hasbro is certainly no stranger to going with more modern designs (just see Transformers for proof) but here they might need to reign them in just a bit.

If they keep the lore intact from the first film, they could always go the route of pseudo-sentient suits, meaning that they adapt to their surroundings and change over time. That would mean they start to mimic more earth-based materials as time goes on but the alien-like features (forming over their skin, etc) stay intact.

They don’t need to go full spandex mind you, but just a bit closer to the classic design mold couldn’t hurt.

Adult Doesn’t Mean Dark

One of the biggest issues with the Power Rangers reboot was its approach to tone, or rather, how people perceived that tone.

Adults who saw it enjoyed a mix of heart, humor, and stakes that traded in the campier elements of the original series in for a more grounded and mature take (giant gold monsters aside of course). Unfortunately, it failed to attract kids to theaters, and Power Rangers has always been a kid first brand.

Fans want a story and characters that they can latch onto, but they also don’t mind a property or franchise being what made it so popular int eh first place. Right now there’s a big disparity between the Power Rangers television series (which is fully for kids) and the last film (which mostly adults enjoyed), and it’s on the next film to find some sort of middle ground to really hit it out of the park.

Address The Green Ranger

Regardless of where you stand on the Green Ranger, it’s safe to say he’s one of the most popular Rangers of all time, and he’ll need to be included in some way.

I was actually a big fan of the way the reboot integrated the character, with Rita Repulsa being the original Green Ranger. If they keep that lore intact that would be with me, and then they can just build off of the ending tag regarding Tommy Oliver’s introduction.

If they ditch all that, they still need to involve the Green Ranger, even if it is just showing through the origin that there is another Power Coin in the universe. They could also introduce Tommy Oliver as a character earlier on and then show the metamorphosis into the Green Ranger as a post-credits tag. People still talk about the last film’s tag and all that showed was a green jacket. Imagine that reaction if he were to debut in the final scene.

Plus, it would give Hasbro the opportunity to sell Green Ranger movie toys before having to make a sequel, and they certainly wouldn’t mind that.

Dragonzord

Zords don’t get much cooler than the Dragonzord, and we would love to see him brought to CGI life in the next film.

This is a no-brainer if Hasbro just continues the lore into a sequel, as when they introduce Tommy Oliver as the Green Ranger he’ll no doubt have a fight with the Rangers, and ultimately there will be a Dragonzord vs Megazord fight as well.

It’s still possible for a cameo though even if they restart the franchise. In a previous slide we referred to addressing the Dragon Power Coin’s existence, and in this vein, you could also allude to the existence of the Dragonzord. You could even show a quick glimpse of it fighting an enemy during someone’s narration, most likely Zordon’s, just to give a taste of what’s to come.

Zords Redesign

Speaking of Zords, let’s be honest, they were one of the weaker parts of the reboot.

While some fans came around on a few of the designs like the Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops, others didn’t hit the mark, most notably the Mastodon. Even if the reboot’s vision is kept, these guys could still use a little tweaking.

Like we suggested earlier about the suits, the Zords could also be shown to adapt over time, giving the designers a way to modify them. You could also build it into the plot of the film, revealing that Billy, Trini, or whoever has been working on them in the interim and has found a way to change their outward designs, favoring a more traditional Dinosaur look than the previous movie showed.

Goldar Needs An Overhaul

All I could see when watching the original film was dollar signs when Goldar hit the screen, and it seemed like that money could have been invested better if put into more screen time for the suits or just another more interesting monster.

The idea of a constantly shifting gold creature as Goldar has potential, but overall it just didn’t captivate onscreen, and we would love to see something a bit more in keeping with the classic show. We know it’s difficult making a flying talking Gorilla not look campy, but taking away all those features just makes him dull, and that can be as bad as being too over the top.

New Marketing Strategy

One of the more prevalent issues with the last movie was its messaging, as many who watched trailers and TV spots didn’t really understand who it was supposed to be for. It also struggled in highlighting the action because once you see the whole film you understand there aren’t many action sequences to pull from.

Since this film will fix that (per our request in the earlier slide) out of sorts balancing issue, this marketing campaign should be pure fun. Embrace the bold colors the franchise is known for and make sure to highlight the costumes and Zords in TV spots while highlighting the chemistry of the cast in longer form featurettes and extended sneak peeks. This approach should garner more attention from the kids the franchise needs and will also give the adults and longtime fans just enough to get them into the theater.

So that’s our wish list, but what do you want to see? Let us know in the comments!