The Power Rangers franchise might not be coming back any time soon, but it's sparking up conversations all over again as the first look at a potentially cancelled animated reboot has surfaced online. The Power Rangers franchise recently celebrated its 31st anniversary, and over the three decades the series has gone on to inspire multiple iterations of the TV series, video games, comic books, and even a few feature films over the years. But there's one avenue that the franchise has yet to explore in all this time, an animated one as the series has not gotten an animated project of any kind.

But it seems like an animated project could have happened as a surfaced animated film for the Power Rangers franchise has popped up online. The touted cancelled film, Power Rangers: Origins, would have been developed by Saban Brands and Zag Entertainment (the production studio behind Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir), and would have featured a new take on the original team from the first season of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers TV series. Posters and other promotional material for the cancelled project have appeared on eBay (as spotted by @RangerBoard on X) and you can check them out below.

[1/2] Listed on ebay (https://t.co/T3pQVQstTk) - Here's a great look at posters for the cancelled #PowerRangers Origins animated movie!

What do you think of these designs? (Especially that Megazord...) Would you like something like this?
? Discussion: https://t.co/yBR5arsUvM pic.twitter.com/4I2uZckxqc

-- ? RangerBoard.com ? (@RangerBoard) September 21, 2024

What Is Power Rangers: Origins?

Details for this reportedly cancelled project are scarce due to the secretive nature of its development, but Power Rangers: Origins was apparently in development for Saban Brands in the period where they owned the franchise and were looking ahead to what could be coming next. This was during the era following Saban Brands buying the franchise back from Disney, and developing new projects. Which means it was also during the period in the 2010s before the franchise rights were sold to Hasbro, but for one reason or another this animated take on the franchise never came to pass (much also like the recently cancelled Netflix reboot).

From the looks at the material, it looks to be a fully animated rebooted take on the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers line up of Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Zack and Trini. Though their respective characters might have gotten redesigns for the new era, it seems like the rest of the franchise would have been redesigned as well with new designs for the zords as seen through the promotional materials as well. But an animated version of the franchise is still something many fans are hoping to see in action someday.

Will There Ever Be an Animated Power Rangers?

Desire for a fully animated Power Rangers series is something fans of the franchise have been vocal about for quite some time. As the live-action TV shows and movies are currently inactive, fans had hoped to see some kind of animated take bring the franchise in a whole new kind of direction that can't be replicated with real suit actors as seen in the Tokusatsu adaptations. But there could be several different reasons why the franchise has yet to make an animated debut with the central being potential licensing issues.

Given that the Power Rangers franchise adapts Toei's Super Sentai series in Japan, there are a number of deals likely in place to use the characters in different ways. Whether changing these designs and squarely focusing on the Power Rangers versions of the characters makes it easier for some kind of project, it's all holding back an animated take. Unlike some of the other Hasbro brands enjoying their animated runs, Power Rangers just might be more complicated in getting an animated version out there. Especially now that the TV series seems to have gone dormant for the time being.

The ComicBook Nation crew review Transformers One, and it's Peak Geek TV time again with Agatha All Along, The Penguin and Zack Snyder's anime Twilight of the Gods all premiering this week!

PLUS: The Clue movie reboot may have a director; the Transformers & G.I. Joe movie gets an update; Zack Snyder's 300 TV series is happening - and Netflix's One Piece Season 2 drops some major casting surprises!

Transformers One Review

Here's what ComicBook Nation's Anime Initiative host Evan Valentine had to say about his 4-star review of Transformers One:

I would be remiss by not calling this the best Transformers film since the 1980s animated film. If this is the future of the Transformers franchise, then Autobot and Decepticons fans have a bright future to look forward to indeed.

The Penguin Review

ComicBook's Jenna Anderson had the following to say in her 4.5 out of 5 star review of The Penguin:

Across its eight episodes, The Penguin redefines what verisimilitude can mean in the world of comic book adaptations. The grittiness, violence, and double-crossing that fans would expect from the title are abundantly present, but balanced with a truly heartfelt take on loss, rebirth, and personal agency. The series is not only one of the better crime dramas in recent memory, it is one of the best examples of how to branch out decades of beloved lore.The Penguin is simply a show about people trying to thrive in a world much bigger and weirder than they can even comprehend - a subject that would be universal nonetheless, but transforms into something special with its engrossing performances.

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Few franchises have shown as much staying power and timelessness as Power Rangers, and it's a bit hard to fathom that the franchise got its start on this very day 31 years ago. On this day in 1993, the first episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers hit the airwaves and ushered in a Kids TV powerhouse that would then expand beyond TV into the realms of Toys, movies, games, collectibles, and comics. All these years later the franchise is waiting for its next chapter to begin, but there's still plenty to celebrate in the meantime, and we've got everything you need to know and be on the lookout for right here.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Where It All Started

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers first aired on August 28th, 1993, and would introduce fans to the original five Rangers. Jason (Red Ranger), Trini (Yellow Ranger), Billy (Blue Ranger), Zack (Black Ranger), and Kimberly (Pink Ranger) would make up the original team, and they would soon be joined by the Green Ranger Tommy, who would go on to become one of the icons of the franchise. The team would experience some changes along the way, both in cast and in terms of Rangers and Zords, and would conclude its run on May 23rd, 1994.

Power Rangers was adapted from the Super Sentai series Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, and subsequent seasons of the show beyond Mighty Morphin would adapt other Sentai entries. The most recent entry in the franchise was 2023's Cosmic Fury, which gave the Dino Fury cast their third season to close out a 30 year run.

Movies and TV

At the moment you can find quite a few Power Rangers projects on Netflix, which currently holds the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, both seasons of Power Rangers Dino Fury, and the one season of Power Rangers Cosmic Fury. You can also find the 2023 reunion of the original cast on Netflix in Power Rangers: Once & Always, which brought back David Yost, Walter Emanuel Jones, Steve Cardenas, and Catherine Sutherland as Rangers. You're going to have to move around a bit for the other film projects, as the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers film from 1995 can be found on Disney+ at the moment, while the 2017 Power Rangers reboot film can be found on Prime Video.

Gaming

Power Rangers fans have a bevy of options to choose from in the realm of gaming, and one of the most exciting games is right around the corner. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind will hit later this year, and brings the classic beat-em up style of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the Power Rangers franchise in a game for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Those who want a good deal can also find the previously released fighting game Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, which is available for PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.

You can also find the free to play fighting game Power Rangers Legacy Wars on iOS and Android, which has added a massive amount of Rangers and villains as playable characters to the roster over the years and is still updating with new content. On the tabletop side there is the miniature skirmish game Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid, which has released a host of expansions and additional teams for the game. There's also the Power Rangers Deck-Building Game, which just released the It's Morphin' Time expansion that includes the new Green Ranger from the comics. If you happen to love roleplaying games, you can also check out Renegade's Power Rangers Roleplaying Game and its expansions to start your own campaign.

Comics

Speaking of the comics, now is a perfect time to catch up on everything you've missed and get ready for a new era. BOOM! Studios recently released a first preview of its Power Rangers Prime series, which will launch a new starting point and a group of fan favorite Rangers to follow along with, including Lauren from Power Rangers Samurai. You can find trades of Go Go Power Rangers, Power Rangers, and Power Rangers: The Return as well, and the latter featured Amy Jo Johnson and Matt Hotson bringing back the original team of Rangers for an all new adventure with some big surprises.

While you wait for Prime, there is also the fantastic Power Rangers Infinity, a one-shot that introduces fans to a delightful new team of oddball Rangers, as well as the excellent Ranger Academy, which follows an academy that trains students to become Rangers set in the same world of the Rangers we know and love. Oh, and if you want crossovers, you can't go wrong with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles either!

Toys and Collectibles

That brings us to toys and collectibles, which continues to showcase the franchise in various ways. On the action figures front, fans can find good deals on the Lightning Collection, as the franchise will introduce a new line of toys from Playmates next year. In the same action figure realm, Super 7 also has their brand new Lord Drakkon Ultimates figure, which is based on the evil version of Tommy Oliver from an alternate universe. The Drakkon figure comes with some amazing accessories, including a broken Saba, alternate head sculpt, and a broken Red Ranger helmet, and he can be pre-ordered here. There are also Ultimate versions of the Dragonzord, Lord Zedd, and core Rangers available as well.

If you want bigger scale figures, you can also get the Power Rangers One:12 Collective Deluxe Boxed Set, which features the original five Rangers with a host of accessories that includes the Power Blaster! If you're into smaller collectibles, Funko has a variety of Pops to add to the collection, including the Green Ranger 30th Anniversary, Ranger Slayer, and more.

In the even higher scale side of things, Diamond Select has a new Power Rangers Red Ranger Gallery Statue up for pre-order, as well as a 3D 1:2 Scale Bust of the White Ranger, which is stunning. Then there's the Ranger's mentor Zordon in a 1:10 scale statue from Iron Studios, who also have new Ranger statues coming as well.

Happy 31st Anniversary Power Rangers, and can't wait to see what the next 31 years hold for one of my favorite franchises!

What do you love most about Power Rangers? You can talk all things Power Rangers with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!

When Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita's Rewind was announced back in June, only the five original Rangers were revealed as playable characters: Jason, Trini, Zack, Billy, and Kimberly. Unfortunately, that left one glaring omission: Tommy Oliver, the Green Ranger. Fans have long been hoping to see Tommy announced, and Digital Eclipse has now made it official. According to the developer, the game will feature Tommy's origin story as part of the game's narrative, and Tommy will become a playable character once the campaign has been completed. Tommy's weapon of choice in the game will be his iconic Dragon Dagger.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita's Rewind has some connective tissue with Power Rangers: Once & Always. In the game, Robo Rita has gone back in time, with the goal of altering history to defeat the Power Rangers. As such, players will be revisiting some of the most iconic moments from the earliest days of the show. The five-part Green With Evil storyline certainly qualifies as such, having first introduced viewers to Tommy, who was portrayed in the series by the late Jason David Frank. Tommy quickly became a fan favorite character, and arguably the face of the franchise.

In addition to the announcement, Digital Eclipse shared some images of Tommy in the game. Interestingly enough, in one image, Tommy can be seen fighting the Tenga Warriors. By the time the Tenga Warriors appeared in the show's third season, Tommy had become the White Ranger, so it will be interesting to see if the appearance of the villains has something to do with Rita's manipulation of the timeline!

For those that haven't been keeping up with the game, Rita's Rewind is an arcade style brawler, similar to the SNES Power Rangers games developed by Bandai. In addition to fighting foes like the Putty Patrol and Tenga Warriors, players can also look forward to giant boss fights using the Megazord! The game is supposed to come out before the end of 2024, but a full release date has not been confirmed. When it does release, the game will be made available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.

Are you happy to see Tommy in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita's Rewind? Do you plan to check out the game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

With Playmates picking up the Power Rangers toys license from Hasbro, there's a good chance that the Lightning Collection line has come to the end of the road. That said, this might be your last opportunity to pick up the Power Rangers Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Power Morpher replica, which first launched in 2020 and has been out of production for quite some time.

Note that there are multiple deals going on right now that you can take advantage of when picking up your Power Morpher. Currently, you can order the Power Morpher with an automatic 10% in-stock discount and free U.S. shipping using our exclusive Entertainment Earth link. Note that the discount is good on any in-stock item, so you can add more collectibles to your cart and save on those as well. However, Entertainment Earth is also running a sale on in-stock items that offers 10% off orders of $100 or more, $25 off orders of $200 or more, and $50 off orders of $300 or more through September 2nd, so there are even bigger discounts to be had when you cross the $200 threshold.

The Power Rangers Lightning Collection Power Morpher is inspired by the original morpher in the MMPR series and features premium painted details and diecast power coins that can be swapped out to unlock sounds and light up the morpher with colors inspired by each of the original Power Rangers: Mastodon, Pterodactyl, Triceratops, Sabertooth Tiger, and Tyrannosaurus.

As for the Playmates Power Rangers lineup, look for a kid-focused first wave to drop in 2025. Here's what Hasbro and Playmates had to say about the partnership:

"We are honored to work with Hasbro on the reimagination of this iconic franchise's toy line for long time fans and a new generation of children. Playmates and Hasbro speak the same toy language and share a passion for POWER RANGERS, a multi-generational phenomenon that has stood the test of time," said Karl Aaronian, Playmates' SVP of Marketing.

"Playmates' ability to interpret character-based story telling in highly detailed, innovative, and affordable products has revitalized several iconic brands, they are the perfect fit to fully expand the POWER RANGERS franchise," said Casey Collins, President of Licensed Consumer Products at Hasbro. "While we'll continue to provide oversight and direction on future POWER RANGERS product ranges, Playmates will leverage its action figure and accessory design, development and marketing expertise to create an entirely new play and collecting experience for fans of all ages. With two powerhouse companies coming together to support a powerhouse brand, the potential is limitless!"