15 Classic Power Ranger Details We Want To See In The Reboot But Won’t

With the release of the all new “Power Rangers” trailer at New York Comic-Con this month, folks finally started getting excited to see the return of the popular 90’s series to the big screen. While the source material is almost 30 years old, the new film looks like an interesting blend of “Breakfast Club” and “Chronicle” applied to the teens at Angel Grove High. Undoubtedly, the new Rangers will have their own awesome takes on old gadgets, characters and places from the series, but a lot is probably going to get left out as well (for example, will Zordon still be a giant floating head in an inter-dimensional tube or not?).

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We at CBR have compiled a list of things we’ll most likely not be seeing in the big-screen reboot. Some omissions from the show would be to our dismay, but many are probably for the better in the long run.

Baboo And Squatt

Even though Rita Repulsa was seen as the big bad villain for a majority of the “Power Rangers” episodes, she wasn’t alone in her crusade to destroy Earth. When she was freed from her prison, she also had her cohorts with her. Among them was her trusted ally, Goldar, and two “nincompoops” (as she often called them) called Baboo and Squatt. Squatt was an overeager, but oftentimes cowardly, minion of Rita who stuck close to his comrade, Baboo. Baboo was equally as cowardly, but functioned as a potion maker for his empress on multiple occasions. The duo existed mostly for comic relief as Rita’s resident bumbling idiots, almost never posing a direct legitimate threat to the Rangers themselves.

While it’s been confirmed that Goldar will be appearing in the film, we haven’t heard or seen anything of Baboo and Squatt. It would be awesome to see a redone design for them, or Elizabeth Banks as Rita berating them for yet another screw up. Given the more seemingly serious nature of the new movie however, it’s likely that these two were left off the reboot roster.

X-treme Sports

Originally dubbed “teenagers with attitude,” the Power Rangers were the cool kids of Angel Grove High School. How do you establish coolness in the ’90s? By participating in extreme sports, of course! Throughout the series and even the feature film, the Rangers were often seen practicing the most “x-treme” sports hobbies they could find outside of martial arts. Skydiving, rollerblading and scuba diving were just a few of the extracurricular activities the Rangers dallied in between giant monster fights.

So far, the trailer has only shown a more angst-ridden view of the teenagers before they become Rangers. Most appear to struggle as outsiders among their peers, so it would stand to argue that none of them do much aside from school or being rebellious in general. Some early details do confirm that Jason was an apparent football legend and the teaser trailer shows a few martial arts moves, but it’s hardly the same as casually participating in triathlons or ninja competitions.

The Moon Palace

Rita Repusa’s base of operations. What’s less ostentatious than a giant palace on the moon? Rita certainly didn’t care for keeping under the radar during her antics in the series, and simply set up shop where she was freed. Her palace was massively expansive, filled with laboratories, giant throne rooms and lovely observation balconies to step out and spy on the Rangers with her telescope. It also lied within perfect range for her to chuck her wand straight down at Angel Grove to make her monsters grow into terrible giants.

While we don’t know much yet about Rita’s full role in the new film, it might be easy to write off the Moon Palace as part of her introduction. It was large and ridiculous in the show, something that probably won’t come across very well in the less-comedic movie. She will likely have a smaller base of operations to start with and work her way up to the opulent palace, if at all.

The RadBug

Oh man, memory lane. When the Rangers couldn’t be teleported to the Command Center, they did the only thing they could do: pile into a flying Volkswagon Beetle. The teams’ resident smarty-pants Billy built the souped up Bug in his garage just in case of emergencies (because he apparently has that kind of time and resources as a highschooler). What makes it so rad? According to Billy, it can fly to any location on Earth and goes from 0 to 3,000 MPH in 2.8 seconds.

Even for “Power Rangers,” the RadBug (short for “Remote Activated Drivingzord for Basic Ultra Geomorphology”) was a ridiculously silly concept. It makes sense that the team would need an alternate method of travel if teleportation went down, but why it took the form of a VW Beetle is mind boggling. We’ll likely be spared the return of the RadBug in the newest film, but it would be glorious if the antiquated flying mobile somehow made the cut among all the high-end special effects and slick new suits.

Battle Bikes

If the RadBug wasn’t enough, the Rangers also had access to kitted out motorcycles with sidecars. What’s probably most mind-boggling about the Battle Bikes was how little they were actually featured in the show. Indeed, the bikes were only shown in a single episode in the first season, and in the background at that! This was likely due to the footage overlap between the original Japanese source material and the American version. For some reason though, the toy versions of the motorcycles became a big part of the wildly successful merchandising for “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.”

It actually would be pretty cool to see the Battle Bikes given their proper due in the new movie, but it’s unlikely. Without teleportation to use, the new team would probably just bum a ride off their parents or call an Uber. Still, it would be fantastic to see the new cast try to make riding in a sidecar (that looked like a retrofitted bumper car, no less) look cool.

Saba The Sword

Along Tommy’s introduction came the entire saga of him losing his powers and being reborn as the White Ranger. With the new identity came a couple of new toys, including his talking sword, Saba. Embedded in the weapon’s hilt, Saba acted as the joystick for the new White Tigerzord and Tommy’s sidekick of sorts. He wasn’t merely another throwaway character used for the occasional wisecrack and summoning a zord, though. Saba could fly around, levitate, and shoot lasers from his eyes. More than enough times the sword proved incredibly integral to the White Ranger’s battles, and was often treated as a longstanding partner of Tommy’s. Saba proved so popular, it eventually became one of the hottest toys for every “Power Rangers” fan in its heyday.

As much as we may love the smart-talking deadly weapon, it’s probably safe to say we won’t be seeing him in the new film. Saba was introduced only when Tommy became the White Ranger, which in turn only happened after his stint as a Green one. He’s simply way too far down the line to have meaning in an origin story. Of course, they could always have a cameo like having Saba stored in the new Command Center somewhere.

The Monster-Matic

Everyone remembers the drill. Rita Repulsa would come up with some new plan to destroy the Rangers and enlist her master tinkerer, Finster, to craft her a special monster to accomplish this. Finster would then carve enemies out of clay and send them through his personal creature-cooking Easy-Bake Oven machine dubbed the “Monster-Matic.” It was only through Finster’s skills and this device that Rita was able to send Putties or any one of the numerous other creatures she pitted against the rangers at all.

It was recently confirmed that Putties would be involved somehow with the new film, but it’s hard to say if they will be a result of a direct summoning by Rita or something else entirely. Seeing as how Rita appears to be the main antagonist for the movie, it might detract a bit from her character if she needs to rely on Finster and his machine on the big screen to pose a threat. Besides that, this will be an introduction of Rita herself, so it may benefit her more to keep her minion count relatively light in this reboot.

Hip Hop Kido

Within the first few minutes of the first episode, “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers” was keen to give each character an easily identifiable trait. Zack was immediately labeled a dancer and thus the show took several opportunities to incorporate that into his role as the Black Ranger. This eventually fed into “Hip Hop Kido,” the fighting style Zack himself had apparently created and practiced. Whenever Zack went toe-to-toe with an opponent throughout the series, it was often accompanied by some slick beats and fancy (although sometimes useless) footwork. He even had an episode where he taught kids his new style, and the ensuing video has lived on in legend for years.

The concept of “Hip Hop Kido” was a bit silly and clearly a decision made by the show to capitalize on hip hop’s rising popularity during the ’90s. The new film however, will be taking place in a time almost 25 years past “Morphin’s” heyday. Instead of some old-school hip hop, we’re much more likely to hear a few dubstep beats overlaying the fighting sequences, if any dance-fighting at all.

The Juice Bar

The “Power Rangers” was pretty fantastic in showing all of Zordon’s crew trying to balance their regular lives with their roles as Earth’s protectors. So much so that the Rangers had multiple hangout spots where they could blow off steam and enjoy being a teenager. One such place was the juice bar inside the Angel Grove Youth Center. The juice bar was the “Power Ranger” equivalent of Jitters on “The Flash” or the Central Perk in “Friends.” It even came with a friendly and portly owner named Ernie, who was rarely seen clad in anything but his fantastically cool tropical shirt.

While we may be far more health conscious in this day and age, it’s hard to say if the juice bar would survive the transition to the new movie. Most of the new kids in the film seem far more likely to meet up at the nearest Starbucks rather than a youth center smoothie shop.

Lord Zedd

 

While Rita Repulsa was the major villain for the Power Rangers, Lord Zedd was a close second. After Rita failed one too many times in successfully destroying the Rangers, Zedd arrived on the scene to take over for her and finish the job properly. He was a powerful emperor, immediately stripping Rita of her powers and launching numerous deadly attacks on the Angel Grove crew. Not only was he fearsome, but also he was damn scary to look at. Lord Zedd had no skin to speak of and his brain was exposed on the top of his head. His body carried metal ornamentation and tubes that presumably kept him alive and powerful. Undoubtedly, he is one of the Rangers’ greatest and most terrifying of adversaries.

That being said, Zedd came in pretty far into the original “Power Rangers” run. He first appeared in season two, which is well after numerous failed attempts on Rita’s part, while the new film will only be her first shot at taking a crack at them. Zedd is probably a character planned further down the line for future films. When and if that time comes, we sure hope Rita and Zedd’s romance plays a part in it as well.

Richard Horvitz’s Voice

The Rangers not only relied on Zordon as a beacon of advice and power, but also his robot sidekick named Alpha 5. Alpha was the quintessential ’50s style robot with a UFO-shaped head, jerky movements and his fantastic catchphrase of “Aye-yi-yi!” The Rangers and Zordon alike loved him and often assuaged his over-worrisome personality. Alpha was often seen as an aide, confidant, caretaker and friend. This was all possible through Richard Horvitz’s voice work, who lent his skills to fully fleshing out the robotic character for a number of years on the show.

Sadly, Horvitz will not be returning as Alpha 5. Instead, the role was recast with Bill Hader stepping into the robot shoes. Now while we’re sure Hader will probably do a fantastic job in whatever newly envisioned form of Alpha we get to see in the film, it just won’t have the same ring as Horvitz’s work. It would be great if even Horvitz could lend his voice to something else in the film as a fun aside. Our ears would undoubtedly perk up with glee in the theater if he did.

Wrist Communicators

Every one of the Rangers wore one of these in order to maintain contact with each other and the Command Center, as well as teleport them back and forth. They were color-coded for each member of the team and looked like a piece of true space-age technology. Not only that, they also gave birth to one of the most iconic notification sounds in TV history. The communicators were as integral to the Rangers as their power coins.

Unfortunately they were also a product of technology limitations during the era it aired. Cell phones were far less prevalent in everyday use as they are now, so the whole talking/teleporting watch was an effective way of having the Rangers easily keep in contact with each other. The new movie will probably have the Rangers utilize smartphones (or smartwatches) instead. There could even be a chance the film will create a newer, more futuristic communicator for the team to use, but it will likely look way slicker than the old microphone-looking wristbands we know and love.

The Power Cannon/Blaster

One of the key concepts of the “Power Rangers” show was teamwork. Never were the Rangers able to do things without the help of others (except for Tommy in certain cases). This was driven home even more so when the team has to fight multiple powerful adversaries. They each carried a unique weapon such as a longbow, sword, dagger, axe, or lance. Together, the Rangers would combine their weapons to form a giant weapon that they could fire on enemies. In the first season of “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers” it took the form of a giant crossbow and in the second season it was a huge cannon that blasted lasers. These weapons saw less use as the show progressed further into its run.

Although it’s entirely likely that the Rangers in the new film will get power weapons, making the jump to assembling them all into one mega-gun (or bow) might be a touch too hokey for its more serious tone. The sense of teamwork will probably be more so applied to individual hand-to-hand fight scenes and, of course, the assembly of the Megazord.

Rita’s Dumpster Origin

Rita Repulsa was an infamous dark witch that sought to destroy Earth simply for fun. It’s sometimes easy to forget that such a formidable villain was trapped in a so-called “giant space dumpster” for 10,000 years before being accidentally freed by curious astronauts. Indeed, the trash-receptacle-for-a-jail-cell thing was always a sticking point for Rita, often being used as an insult towards her. She was even imprisoned in another space dumpster briefly by Lord Zedd when he ousted her, so it was something that constantly followed her.

Regardless of how much we’ve seen in the teasers, it’s probably a safe bet to assume that the film will not be sticking to Rita’s origins entirely. Since they are showing her as an incredibly scary and powerful villain, having her break out of a dumpster prison might take away from that persona. If early photos are any indicator, the writers might have changed Rita’s cell to something a bit more transparent and devoid of any old space-banana peels.

The Green Ranger

Let’s be honest, you can dig on the Yellow or Blue Ranger, but there were probably more than a few arguments among childhood friends on who got to play as the Green Ranger. When Tommy Oliver was introduced to the show, he was this brand new factor that was an immediate hit. He was a bad boy, had long hair and dreamy eyes, and a badass Dragonzord that he summoned with a totally sweet dagger/flute. The Green Ranger was an incredibly popular and memorable character of the original series, so it would be more than fantastic to see his debut in the reboot.

Unfortunately that will be pretty unlikely for “Power Rangers,” at least in their first go. Tommy was initially brought into the show as a villain, his powers created by Rita Repulsa, to destroy Zordon and the Angel Grove Rangers. Since the new film is focused on the Rangers’ origins and banding together, it would stand to reason that the Green Ranger would be far off. Still, it would be great to see at least some sort of reference to Tommy in some way. Maybe as a new kid joining the school at the end of the film? We can only hope.

What do you want to see in the movie that you don’t think will be featured? Be sure to let us know in the comments.

The post 15 Classic Power Ranger Details We Want To See In The Reboot But Won’t appeared first on CBR.com.

Christen Bejar
via Comic Book Resources