Ah, just what fans want: A take on their favorite franchise whose creative team overdose on ‘detached irony’ and chose to mock the source material instead of genuinely honoring it.
No, it’s not the next Marvel Studios or Star Wars project – this time around, we’re talking about tokusatsu and the now-cancelled Power Rangers: Origins animated film.
Originally green-lit in the late 2000s before having its production halted in favor of the 2017 live-action film, Origins was produced by Miraclous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir series and film production studios ZAG Entertainment and SAMG entertainment and sought to reboot the titular team for a new generation of viewers.
While the film was never officially announced prior to its axing, various, low-resolution copies of character posters and a full-on trailer, have trickled out online over the past few years.
And now, the public has been given their best glimpse yet at the de-powered series courtesy of an eBay seller who recently decided to sell off their personal collection of Origins-related marketing material.
Therein, numerous details regarding the film were revealed, such as the fact that not only would the team have seen at least one race-swap, with the Black Ranger being changed from black to seemingly Latino, but also that the team’s uniforms would have been (poorly) streamlined by way of their ‘side diamonds’ being removed, and that their Mega Zord would have looked more like a less-detailed of the Zeo Megazord rather than the Dino Megazord piloted by their live-action inspirations.
And while most of these materials dealt with the film’s visual aesthetics, there was one particular character poster that provided a telling look into the film’s overall tone and direction.
In her own highlight poster, the film’s Yellow Ranger – a young woman of seeming Asian background – can be seen flippantly holding her blaster and raising her eyebrow at the prospect that she has to “Save the world…with a toy?”, an obvious dig at the very concept of the entire ‘live-action action produced on a relatively cheap budget’ nature of the entire tokusatsu genre meant to signal to casual audiences that ‘Hey, we’re not taking this dumb thing seriously! It’s so lame, right?’
Notably, this direction for Power Rangers Origins comes as little surprise given the public rhetoric of former franchise executive producer and series showrunner Simon Bennett, who in the months directly prior to the entire Power Rangers brand being put on ice was declaring his outright disdain for the tokusatsu genre.
Speaking to the fan opposition to his decision to have Cosmic Fury feature original suits and footage rather than use archival material from either of its source Super Sentai series, Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger and Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, Bennett condescendingly asserted, “Call me radical, but I suspect that those adult Power Ranger fans who are also diehard Super Sentai fans, may be vociferous when PR deviates from its traditional source material, but are also a minuscule percentage of the viewership of the show. Which is made for children.”
Following pushback from viewers who disagreed with his dismissive argument that children’s media could not be ‘mature’ in its storytelling, Bennet would ultimately asserted, “Super Sentai and Kamen Rider are fantastically imaginative and brilliantly successful,” replied Bennett. “I love them and also adore Studio Ghibli films. However, some aspects of these properties are very specifically Japanese in their sensibilities, and will therefore be of niche appeal in the US.”
“I think, and this is only my opinion, that to reach a large mainstream audience, the franchise has to move away from its Tokusatsu roots,” he added. “It’s this that has kept Power Rangers niche for so long with US audiences. It needs to do this in a way that is fresh and compelling.”
Given this derision towards the property from the people in charge of it, it’s no surprise that as of writing, the only active piece of Power Rangers media is the BOOM! Studios comic book series – and even that’s getting a reboot come this fall.
NEXT: Hasbro Reportedly “Never Wanted ‘Power Rangers’”, Brand’s Purchase “Done Without Consulting R&D”