Mighty Morphin Power Rangers kicked off a worldwide franchise when it debuted in 1993, and the franchise will be starting a brand new era with the release of its in-development live-action series on Disney+. When that season eventually releases, it won’t include any Sentai footage, which is a big deal since the franchise has always been tied to Sentai since Mighty Morphin adapted Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. That said, 30 years ago, Mighty Morphin was actually first in proving it could succeed without Sentai footage attached.
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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers utilizes Super Sentai footage for its monster fights, Zords, and Ranger battles, and then mixes it in with original footage. While certain episodes varied in the amount of Sentai footage used, it was season 2’s “Best Man for the Job” episode that fans saw a big change. Season 2 was adapted from Gosei Sentai Dairanger, and while there was some footage used, this episode featured an all-original Megazord battle involving the Thunder Megazord and the Tigerzord. This was a major deal back then and is still notable today, as it showed the series could succeed without being powered by Sentai footage, and this increased substantially with Cosmic Fury, which would bring that footage amount down even more.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2 Teased The Start of a New Era
While Super Sentai was obviously a large part of the franchise over its history, this episode was the first sign that the two properties didn’t have to be linked forever. There was also Cosmic Fury, which featured all-new Ranger suits from the season’s inspiration, Uchu Sentai Kyuranger. There was footage used from Super Sentai, but not nearly as much as was used in previous seasons.
That brings us to today, and as we speak, Super Sentai is no longer running, as it was unexpectedly cancelled last year. On the other side, Power Rangers‘ previous live-action connected world over at Netflix was also dissolved, but the franchise isn’t ending, as Hasbro got another project up and running for Disney+, and it appears to be heading into production soon.
When that happens, it will be a completely original series in terms of being linked to Super Sentai. There will likely be a host of ties to the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series, but it won’t be using actual footage from the Sentai to power it, marking the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.
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