Power Rangers: Walter Jones Talks Being The First Black Superhero On TV

In 1993, Walter Jones would help launch a worldwide phenomenon in the Power Rangers, but that isn’t the only thing he accomplished.

Jones was on hand at the Go Go Power Rangers panel at New York Comic Con, where he explained a few of the things that help the character resonate with fans to this day. That includes being the first non-animated Black superhero to grace TV screens mind you, something he loves about the character.

“Definitely the diversity at the time made a huge difference,” Jones said. “I grew up in Detroit and it was predominately black and then to become really, the first black superhero on television. For that to happen, I hope it gave hope to people in my city. For anyone to see a darker person, that was positive and respected among his peers, it made a big difference.”

Other Black superheroes graced the screen before Zack, but those were of the animated variety.

Zack’s fun-loving attitude and charisma were also important parts of his character, but few traits stood out more than his loyalty.

“The character of Zach was very protective,” Jones said. “We had Triny and Kimberly and something was about to happen to them and one of the bullies were about to pick on them and they directed me to step back and I told him, Nah, Zach wouldn’t do that, he would step up. We had a certain amount of valor and you know the swag with the dancing.

Zack’s stylish form of combat was coined Hip Hop Kido and made every action sequence a must watch. He’s even carried that into the popular Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comics, which has managed to add even more to Zack’s character.

“I am always surprised,” Jones said. “I am like… Zack did what? I gotta read that, it is exciting. Kyle does a great job. He got into this when he was younger and we were doing it. So it is really cool.”

Fans can catch Jones in his upcoming film project The Order, which also stars several other former Rangers. In the meantime, you can find the full recap of the Power Rangers panel here.