21 Years Ago Today, The Most Popular Power Ranger Ever Returned to the Franchise

The Power Rangers franchise is stacked with fan-favorites, which is understandable given that the franchise has been going for over 31 years. As a result, everyone has their personal favorite Ranger and Season, with any number of factors coming into consideration for why they hold that spot. That said, there is one Power Rangers character that has become the most popular Ranger ever, and 21 years ago today, they made their triumphant return to the franchise.

In 1997, there was a major passing of the torch from several members of the Power Rangers Turbo team, and one important part of that group was Tommy Oliver (played by the late Jason David Frank). Tommy passed his powers to T.J. Johnson and stopped being a Ranger, and while he did show up in the anniversary episode Forever Red, his full-time status was done. That was until 21 years ago today, as Tommy would make his return to the franchise in Power Rangers Dino Thunder, which debuted its season on February 14, 2004.

Tommy Would Return To Power Rangers, But In A Very Different Way (And With A New Ranger Color)

Tommy had already become one of the most popular Rangers during the Mighty Morphin era, which is saying something since all of the Rangers had become popular in general. That popularity only heightened when Tommy would transform into the White Ranger, and he continued to build upon that in Zeo and Turbo. He would return for a one-off appearance in the beloved Wild Force episode Forever Red, but he wasn’t back full-time.

That all changed in Dino Thunder, which was being pushed in a major by Disney at the time. Tommy was not only back full-time, but he was in a very different role. This time around, he was a science teacher at Reefside High School, and he was also responsible for choosing who the Dino Thunder Rangers would be in the two-part premiere. That was already rather different for Tommy, as even when he was a leader of teams in the past, he was doing so from the battlefield alongside them.

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Tommy wouldn’t actually return to being a Ranger until episode 5 of the season in Back in Black, and as the name suggests, gone were his Green, White, or Red Ranger colors. Instead, he was the new Black Dino Ranger, and the black and gold combo of the suit still looks awesome to this day. He only morphed to help the other Rangers he was teaching, but he still would appear more often from that point on as a Ranger, though he was also balancing his teaching responsibilities, so he couldn’t always be in the mix.

Elements of the story were very much built around Tommy, and in this very season, fans also got the iconic Fighting Spirit episode, which saw Tommy having to confront and battle his former Ranger forms, including the Green Ranger, White Ranger, and Red Zeo Ranger after he was hurt and ended up in a coma. To be honest, if you are talking about sheer popularity, how many Rangers were not only brought back as a mentor and a Ranger, but also had an entire episode homage to their career as a Ranger during that same season? Let’s just say the list is short.

There are several reasons that Tommy became the franchise’s most popular character, with one being how dedicated to the brand Jason David Frank was throughout his life. Frank embodied the Power Rangers franchise and brought Tommy back into the fold in a number of ways, so even if he wasn’t a part of the current season, he was never too far from the franchise. The character would return and be a part of multiple projects over the years, including multiple anniversary episodes like Dimensions in Danger and Legendary Battle, as well as special projects like HyperForce, the Shattered Grid cinematic short with Kyle Higgins, or BOOM! Studios’ Soul of the Dragon.

While there are a host of amazing Rangers and characters in the franchise that all have big fanbases, Tommy has become the one that you can mention to just about anyone, and they know exactly who you’re talking about. That’s partly why his return in Dino Thunder was such a huge deal, and something we are talking about even 21 years later.

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