Hasbro are Realigning the Morphin Grid, Which Potentially Brings Massive Changes to the Franchise.

Started back in the 1990s by Haim Saban, Power Rangers was an overnight success with audiences around the world. But the franchise has had ups and down and resulted in it passing from one production house to another through its time. Now in the hands of the toy masters, Hasbro, the franchise appears to be setting itself up for some big changes. While it has not been confirmed, it appears Hasbro is set to create their own original content for the Power Rangers universe.

Hasbro have confirmed that Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger will be getting adapted to the next series of multicoloured heroes, Power Rangers Dino Fury. When this was announced fans had mixed reactions. One of the concerns came from it being the fourth series to use dinosaurs as a theme. Another worry from the fans being this team having the exact same colours for the Rangers as seen the last dino-themed series, Power Rangers Dino Charge. But it was shortly after this announcement that rumours and staff reassignments starts to hit the morphing grid over at Hasbro.

While it has not been confirmed, it appears Hasbro is aiming to end the long-running connection to the Japanese franchise, Super Sentai. Every single series of Power Rangers is produced using the footage, suits and themes from Super Sentai. This resulted in American footage of the heroes out of their suits being shot and then cut together with the Japanese footage of the heroes in action.

Over the course of the decades, there has been an increase of American shot footage of the heroes in their suits and even the odd American only Ranger made purely for their series. But, in the early days it was pretty much completely Japanese footage of the Rangers. If the rumours are true, it will see the end of a partnership of over 25 years between the two superhero franchises.

This is something that has made the Ranger Corp of fans nervous, as it is effectively stepping into the unknown. Some even feared it was a sign the franchise could end. But this is simply not going to be the case, purely from a finance point of view. To purchase Power Rangers, Hasbro paid out a mighty morphin $230 million in cash, $270 million in stock to pay for the acquisition, along with a $22.5 million Hasbro paid to Saban when they first agreed to purchase the franchise.

Given how much they have paid they will not be cancelling the franchise after a mere four seasons. But further evidence points to the rumour of the relationship with Toei ending. John Warden may be a name you have not heard of before, but this is the man responsible for designing the Transformers over at Hasbro since 2014. This tenure ended this year as he has now teleported from Cybertron to the Command Centre.

With him moving from one Hasbro property to another has only added to the rumours of the relationship with Toei ending. Where the Power Rangers has always used Super Sentai's designs and toys, why would they need such an accomplished toy designer now in the Rangers camp? The only obvious answer is to get designing new Rangers and Megazords for the franchise.

It makes sense if Hasbro are aiming to produce their own Power Rangers shows and toys that they would get a designer who has a proven track record. But how will this all work? That is the big question. Will it remain a live-action show or could we see an animated show? This shift is not out of the question as many of Hasbro's other properties are animated, with the majority of their toys based on live-action character coming from movies. But it is also likely they will keep to a live-action format as that is the norm in Power Rangers.

While it seems like a massive risk to move Power Rangers away from a tried and tested format, it actually has the potential to breath new life into the franchise. One major issue the franchise is facing are harder Super Sentai series to adapt for western audiences. More recent series has had larger cast numbers, more abstract themes and have even been made so they can not be easily adapted. This has caused problems on selecting which Super Sentai series to adapt next.

This is another contributing factor as to why Hasbro could be making this radical alteration to how Power Rangers is made. Without ties to Toei, it would result in them producing new and innovating ideas for the franchise. There are many themes that could easily work for Power Rangers that have not been seen yet, as Super Sentai have not gone down those roads since Power Rangers first arrive. It will also allow the Rangers to fit into a constructed narrative, rather than fitting a narrative around pre-existing footage. It would even allow them the option to branch into movies easier and have Rangers crossover into series without the need of Super Sentai footage.

It may be a scary future for Ranger fans, but they should remember one key thing. Hasbro are the masters of making this kinda stuff. They have had more success with toys and shows coming from those toys than any other company on the planet. The prime example being the Transformers franchise. If any company is going to redirect the flow of the Morphing Grid and make it a success, it is Hasbro. With at least 2 more years of Super Sentai Rangers to use, they have time to truly plan this and are likely to present fans with something new, innovative and refreshing to the franchise.

What are your thoughts? Do you think Power Rangers is heading into a new direction under Hasbro? What would you want to see in the refreshed franchise away from Super Sentai?