Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always is going to bring together several cast members from the original ’90s series, with their characters reuniting for a Netflix special debuting April 19.
In a behind-the-scenes teaser that debuted Tuesday, actors David Yost (Blue Ranger Billy), Walter E. Jones (Black Ranger Zack Taylor), Steve Cardenas (Red Ranger Rocky), Johnny Yong Bosch (Black Ranger Adam), Catherine Sutherland (Pink Ranger Kat) and Karan Ashley (Yellow Ranger Aisha) discuss returning to their characters after decades away.
Power Rangers actors Steve Cardenas (Rocky), Walter E. Jones (Zack), David Yost (Billy) and Catherine Sutherland (Kat) in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always special.
Hasbro, eOneThe cast is a mix of actors who stepped into the Power Rangers team during the show’s first five years on the air. The teaser highlights that some of the actors, such as Jones and Cardenas, are working together for the first time since their time on Mighty Morphin didn’t overlap (Jones departed the series during the show’s second season).
The reunion plans to honor the memory of actress Thuy Trang, who played original Yellow Ranger Trini Kwan before her death in 2001, by featuring actress Charlie Kersh in the role of Trini’s daughter Minh. The special will also honor the late Jason David Frank, following the actor’s death in November. It’s unknown if Frank filmed footage for the special as Green Ranger Tommy Oliver. Footage in the teaser does show six Power Rangers in uniform, including a Green Ranger normally portrayed by Frank.
Actress Charlie Kersh (right, with Yost and Jones) will play Minh, the daughter of original Yellow Ranger Trini.
Hasbro, eOneHasbro and production company eOne also confirmed the return of voice actors Barbara Goodson as the villainous Rita Repulsa and Richard Horvitz as the voice of robot ally Alpha.
Though Once and Always appears to be a one-shot special, details about the upcoming season of Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, including a full costume reveal for the team, also debuted on Tuesday. The series will carry over the entire cast of Power Rangers Dino Fury for their third season together, and instead of using footage from the Japanese Sentai series, the team will wear original costumes designed specifically for this series.
The costume change includes moving the character Amelia (played by Hunter Deno) from being the Dino Fury Pink Ranger into becoming the first season-long female Red Ranger for Cosmic Fury. Though it’s unknown if Amelia will also become a team leader — Dino Fury’s Red Ranger Zayto (played by Russell Curry) is being moved into a White Ranger color — previous female Red Rangers were featured on prior seasons only in a limited capacity. Cosmic Fury is set to debut on Netflix in fall 2023. Deno and her castmates posted a video showing the new suits on the show’s Twitter account.
Beyond the special and Cosmic Fury, Netflix has also been developing a new Power Rangers universe under showrunner Jonathan Entwistle, which may encompass movies or future TV series. Exactly what that’ll entail hasn’t been announced, but it’s looking like Netflix will be a home to the Power Rangers franchise for years to come.
