According to entertainment website TheWrap.com, the Power Rangers franchise may have found it’s new home for entertainment. TheWrap reporter Umberto Gonzalez reports that Hasbro will produce a brand new Power Rangers live-action series on Disney+ with Jonathan E. Steinberg (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) and Dan Shotz in negotiations to write, show-run, and produce the new series.
The Power Rangers brand has stumbled out of the gate since it’s acquisition by Hasbro in 2018. Following a dramatic push in the toy aisle with Power Rangers Beast Morphers, the Power Rangers brand limped to it’s 30th anniversary series Power Rangers Cosmic Fury in 2023, with most of the planned toy line being canceled before production could even begin, and Playmates being rewarded the toy license in the aftermath of the end of Power Rangers toys with Hasbro.
The last time Power Rangers saw critical success in both the toy aisle and media was in the early 2010’s up through 2017, when Saban Brands reacquired Power Rangers from Disney and relaunched the brand on Nickelodeon. The success of Power Rangers in the early 2010’s led way to the rebooted Power Rangers movie of 2017 with Lionsgate. While receiving praise from fans and mild critical acclaim, it limped to a box office finish of $142 million worldwide, causing it to be considered a flop in the eyes of the entertainment industry.
Power Rangers was originally sold to Disney as part of the Fox Kids block of programming in 2002. Disney produced numerous Power Rangers series from 2003 through 2010, some even reaching fan-favorite status (Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Power Rangers S.P.D., Power Rangers RPM). Whether or not this new Power Rangers series comes to pass on Disney+ will be answered through a test of time, as Hasbro attempted to reboot the brand as early as 2019 with Jonathan Entwistle, but the project never got off the ground and eventually ceased to exist when Hasbro sold their recently acquired entertainment company eOne to Lionsgate.
Stay tuned for more updates.