Having watched a couple of attempts to re-launch the Power Rangers franchise in recent months and years, and how they've mostly bombed; I've had a few ideas. Now, though I've watched a little Power Rangers here and there, I wouldn't say I'm truly a fan, I just like peeking over that side of the superhero fence every now and then to see what's happening. But I do see these stumbles and it gets me thinking. This entry of "The Pitch" may be even less focused and more vague than usual, as it's more a gathering of ideas on how constructing a Power Rangers motion picture may work, instead of a refined idea like I've done in the past.
Go Go Power Rangers
An important element of Power Rangers lore that the casual fan may not be aware of is that it takes place in a multiverse and has for most of its run at this point. Whilst most stories and teams follow on from the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, other realities feature other teams and different timelines. In recent years, these universes have crossed over in the series and an organisation of former Power Rangers are keeping watch over the multiverse. Because this gives us a few opportunities to tie back into the main series, we now have the freedom to basically start from scratch. So we'll be doing a brand new universe and a brand new team, with our teenagers with attitude being the first Power Rangers in their reality, or at least, the first Rangers on Earth...
This is Power Rangers, so we already know what the formula is and what will work, which saves us a lot of time. We'll introduce a rainbow coalition of teenagers with attitude, give them colour-coded costumes and have them punch foot soldiers before the second act starts. Because we're using a new universe, we can bring back fan favourites with a few tweaks and updates, so long as we don't overdo things. I'm thinking we have a new version of a classic mentor, though Zordon may be pushing it after the 2017 film, possibly enough time has past. To that end as well, I'm thinking something like the Machine Empire as the antagonist. It's big and scary enough to let some sequels happen, but vague enough that it can be made cool with a few tweaks. Throw in some references to "AI" and maybe it even gets to be topical.
At some stage in the film, the "all is lost moment", our new team is cut off from their mentor and has to use the "in case of emergency" button that we Chekov's Gunned the hell out of in a previous scene. This calls our cameo for the film, a former Ranger from the television series, who helps our teens get the Megazord together to defeat the big monster in the third act. Now, this probably should have been Tommy, but due to the passing of Jason David Frank, I'm thinking Dr. K (Olivia Tennet) is the best choice. She's had enough of a career after Power Rangers RPM to be a draw, but isn't so big she won't come back, like in Beast Morphers. Her character is basically a mentor as well, but with some interesting pathos, and she can always come back and look alright, because she'll never have to morph into a much slimmer stunt person in spandex. Hell, maybe she can direct the film too.
I know that a lot of what I've put here is pretty basic stuff, but I do really think that's what this series needs to make the jump to film. Take the formula that has been working for over twenty years now and do a more expensive and refined version of that. Only bring in as much of the lore as you have to plus a little extra for the fans to salivate over. End with a big third-act blow-out giant robot fight and a post-credits tease and you have a successful film in the can. Maybe it's not a real threat to the MCU or anything, but you finally broke out of the television ghetto and made people take notice of the brand. Anyway, that's been on my mind, so good to get this done.
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