Exciting news for fans of the iconic franchise: Power Rangers is reportedly gearing up for a thrilling live-action series set to debut on Disney+. According to The Wrap, the creative minds behind the successful Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz, are in discussions to helm this ambitious project as writers, showrunners, and producers, in collaboration with 20th Century TV.
Hasbro, the current owner of Power Rangers, aims to breathe new life into the franchise. The goal is to captivate a new generation of viewers while maintaining the loyalty of existing fans. This strategic move comes after Hasbro's acquisition of the Power Rangers brand from Saban Properties in 2018 for a hefty sum of $522 million. At the time of the acquisition, Hasbro's chairman and CEO, Brian Goldner, expressed enthusiasm about the brand's potential, stating, "We see significant opportunity for Power Rangers across our entire Brand Blueprint, including toys and games, consumer products, digital gaming and entertainment, as well as geographically throughout our global retail footprint."
The original '90s TV show, The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, became a cultural phenomenon, enthralling young audiences with its teenage superheroes and their impressive mechs that could combine to form even larger, formidable machines. This new series on Disney+ aims to recapture that magic and expand the universe in innovative ways.
The announcement follows the less successful 2017 movie reboot, which attempted a grittier take on the beloved characters. Despite its intentions to launch a series of sequels, the film's underwhelming box office performance led to the cancellation of those plans, prompting Saban to sell the franchise to Hasbro shortly thereafter.
Hasbro isn't stopping with Power Rangers; the company is also venturing into other exciting projects. Among them is a live-action Dungeons & Dragons series titled The Forgotten Realms, currently in development at Netflix, along with an animated Magic: The Gathering series and a broader Magic: The Gathering cinematic universe, both also in the works at Netflix.
