We’ve seen the new Power Rangers movie trailer. Since trailers are just a sneak peak and don’t reflect the whole movie, we can only reserve judgment but if it did reflect much of the film, then the audience especially Power Rangers fans could be in trouble. The internet is now starting to call them Chronicle Rangers, Emo Rangers and Breakfast Club Rangers. I prefer to call them Emo Breakfast Sentai Chro-Rangers.
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I previously posted an article about how Doctor Doom can be logically integrated into the MCU, should Fox finally be open to negotiations. It’s basically a pitch. I also posted another article showing how Marvel influenced Super Sentai and therefore indirectly influenced the Power Rangers through Spider-Man. So since the Power Rangers are very much colorful heroes and that the upcoming movie wants to get emo on us, what if the DCs various Lantern Corps were re-imagined as Power Rangers?
Geoff Johns really revolutionized the Green Lantern and DCs cosmic mythologies with his various lantern corps idea which culminated in the Blackest Night saga. If only the Green Lantern film didn’t suck with most audiences, the end result dor the DCEU could have been epic. This author is one of the few who enjoy the Green Lantern movie as a popcorn flick. It’s up there with the first Ghost Rider. What I, even as a Ghost Rider fan have a problem sitting through is Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Anyway, it would be cool since DC brought the other colors of the emotional spectrum into the limelight and not just Green (will) and Yellow (fear). Now we have a colorful set to build up on.
Meanwhile, in Japan, Spider-Man is an entirely different character. The only thing linking Spidey and Supaidaman is the costume; everything else is different. The Japanese Spider-Man even has his own ‘zord’ if you will, called Leopardon (yes, spiders and leopards could be related). That Spider-Man and his robot were even featured in the comic book Spider-verse saga. So now, reimagining DCs Lantern Corps into Power Rangers is just another pitch which we hope DC, Toho and Saban could pick up on which will be entirely different as well. Does Emo Sentai Ring Rangers or Power Rangers Emo sound nice to you?
Here’s the pitch. The members will be Green Lantern Ranger, Blue Lantern Ranger, Star Sapphire Ranger, Red Lantern Ranger and Yellow Lantern Ranger. Like Power Rangers Ninja Storm, the group will first be made up of three with Hal Jordan Green Ranger, Carol Ferris Star Sapphire and Kyle Rayner as Blue Ranger. Since Red Ranger is all about anger and Yellow Ranger is about fear, these guys can come in later since they have to be sought and controlled first. Yellow (John Stewart) will come first and later Red (Guy Gardner). John and Kyle may not be compatible with their colors, but as mentioned, the story will be different. Some roles will change.
The world is threatened by the power-hungry Orange Power Empire led by a guy named Larfleeze and his Manhunters. The rest of the galaxy has already been taken over with only Earth remaining. Earth’s only hope is through the help of the remaining Guardian of the Universe Ganthet who puts together a special team of Power Rangers based on the emotional spectrum. He sends his representative Abin Sur to Earth who unfortunately gets intercepted and gets shot down leading to the loss of two power sources. Hal Jordan, his girlfriend Carol Ferris and best friend Kyle finds the dying Abin Sur and each are given a special ring and a lantern to charge them. The red and yellow rings are found by hothead Guy Gardner and by the claustrophobic John Stewart who will later come into play in the series. Ganthet, with his bear-like protector Kilowogg then comes to Earth and brings them together much like the original Zordon did.
This will be the second time the Green Ranger takes the lead in the series. (Green basically led the first Power Ranger team after joining and because he was so popular and became Red in the second season). But this time Green really leads. It will feel a bit strange without Red so Green should be in a compelling shade. Anyway, the rings give them special abilities like enhanced strength and speed. They can also make limited constructs in the form of blasters, swords, daggers and shields. They can also make vehicles like small cars and motorcycles. The rings will also house their respective zords. Their three zords can combine into a larger megazord. When transforming, they can recite a modified version of the Green Lantern oath.
The villains list will include Larfleeze (Greed) whose main generals will be Sinestro (Terror) and Atrocitus (Rage). Later on the Black Lantern threat rises in a second arc and Nekron takes over with his general Black Hand. Each episode, Larfleeze generates an orange monster construct for the rangers to fight. The first arc ends the Lantern Rangers integrate with Yellow and Red Rangers. The yellow and red zords combine with te initial three to form more powerful megazord. Defeated, Larfleeze calls on an ancient artifact that unleashes Nekron and his supernatural forces and the rangers themselves have to find the creature called the Entity to save the universe. They gain the power to become white rangers to defeat Nekron’s forces.
Well, there’s the pitch. Nowadays, a lot of people like crossing different franchises together. We might as well have ourselves a more fun version of Power Rangers and hopefully, the upcoming film won’t as disappointing as the trailer suggests.