As the overall franchise continues to suffer a slow and painful death akin to those of the original Dino Zords, Hasbro and Playmates have announced that rather than producing a new series or revisiting literally any other Ranger squad, their new Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers Re-Ignition initiative will instead see them make yet another attempt at endearing the titular team to a new generation of viewers.
Suffice to say, the past few years have been exceptionally rough for the US adaptation of Super Sentai.
Between Hasbro selling the franchise’s entire toy production rights to Playmates due to a lack of profits, the collapse of BOOM! Studios’ various comic series into a single ‘alternate reality’ reboot, the cancellation of the young adult-oriented Netflix reboot, and the complete liquidation of its costumes and props, Power Rangers is no longer the multi-generation hit it once was, instead barely hanging on as an all-but-officially dead brand.
But rather than seeking to right the ship by actually addressing any of the Power Rangers fan base’s long-standing complaints, such as the franchise’s tired obsession with the Mighty Morphin‘ team or the anti-tokusatsu sentiments of those in charge of its production, Hasbro will instead be seeking to restore power to the Morphin’ Grid by – you guessed it – once again focusing their marketing efforts on Zordon’s first recruits.
As revealed during the recent 2025 New York Toy Fair, per an on-the-ground report from The MontyVerse YouTube channel host and proprietor Pat “Monty” Bulfamante, Playmates’ debut Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers Re-Ignition line aims to bring the franchise back into the public consciousness with a variety of new toys, including a combinable set of DinoZords:
A line of apparent ‘Lightning Collection’-quality figures:
And new versions of the classic Auto-Morphing figures (which as an aside, thanks to their having more detail and their limbs being kept proportional to their standard bodies instead of their expanded chests, look objectively worse than the originals).
But more than just new toy releases and re-issues, the Re-Ignition initiative will also see Playmates uploading an AI-enhanced edition of the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers series to both YouTube and Netflix.
According to reps, as recapped by Bulfamanate, “The goal of Re-Ignition is to build a new generation of PR fans and this is another step towards that.”
However, said Playmates reps did not provide any specific details as to just what ‘AI enhancements’ they would be making to the team’s adventures – in other words, it’s unknown whether the final results will be more akin to the series’ 2010 re-release, which added various new visual and audio effects, or something like Paramount’s recent I Love Lucy Blu-ray release, wherein AI was used to ‘touch-up’ the original recordings so much that everything was left look like an uncanny valley-set fever dream.
At present, Playmates’ new line of Power Rangers toys will begin hitting store shelves this Fall.
Meanwhile, only the first season of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers has been fully been confirmed to be receiving the AI treatment, with its new edition reportedly set to release sometime this July.
However, Bulfamanate does note that there will be “more to follow” at a later date.
For a full look at the upcoming Re-Ignition line’s offerings, readers are encouraged to check out either The MontyVerse’s Twitter feed or – as even he himself recommends – his fellow Power Ranger content creator No Pink Spandex’s Instagram account.