Hasbro is reportedly cutting ties with Toei, the production company that provided the Super Sentai footage used in the long-running Power Rangers television series. The partnership between the beloved toy company and the Japanese production house has spanned a few years, beginning in 2018. The Power Rangers franchise has been around much longer, since 1993 with the creation of the live-action series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which implemented footage of the Japanese series, and followed five ordinary teenagers who become a superhero team to defend Earth from galactic invaders and threats. The partnership between Hasbro and Toei has included Power Rangers: Dino Fury, airing on Nickelodeon.
In recent years, there had been hints that the franchise was headed in a different direction, ultimately abandoning the use of the Super Sentai footage altogether. The 2017 live-action film, Power Rangers, anchored by the power of Lionsgate and using original footage, was meant to jumpstart a franchise, but mixed reception and a low-profit squashed those plans. A year later, Hasbro acquired the Power Rangers brand, among other Saban entities, signaling to fans perhaps a new chapter for the franchise was imminent.
The Illuminerdi now reports that Hasbro is cutting ties with Toei. This means a lot of changes are about to occur, but there's for sure a main one: future television seasons of Power Rangers will no longer be using footage from its Japanese counterpart, Super Sentai. The trade also reports that the 2021 season of Dino Fury could be the last for the long-running series; Hasbro's contract will also be expiring with Dino Fury's network, Nickelodeon. This is true only for the franchise's current iteration and not for the franchise as a whole.
There is a lot to consider regarding the future of the Power Rangers brand, and for fans, there's also a lot at stake. For years, they've had the close alliance of Saban and Toei to deliver Saturday morning cartoon-esque action-packed television, and their hopes for a slick, modern update of the franchise for the big screen were squandered. Could it have been overzealousness that got in the way? Perhaps, but yet fans are still hopeful that there is room for improvement.
Coming on the heels of the bombshell announcement of an upcoming Power Rangers cinematic universe, the blow of this news shouldn't be so shocking. It does seem that Hasbro has given this thought: it's not like they're deciding on major changes like this without calculated research. There needs to be accessibility for a newer generation, like Alex Kurtzman's work on his Star Trek TV shows, yet likewise, there needs to be something for the more seasoned viewers. Because fans are, for better or for worse, the gatekeepers of success for a franchise of this caliber, and they won't let a brand like Power Rangers die out so quickly.
Source: The Illuminerdi