
David Yost Wants A POWER RANGERS Reunion Movie, And Has Already Written The Beginning Of It
Power Rangers was my jam as a kid. Throughout my life I have followed the highs and the really really lows of the franchises 25 year history. While there have been some seasons that are stronger than the original seasons from a storytelling point of view, none ever topped the cast. The franchise means a lot to a lot of people.
Most of the original cast are regulars on the Comic Con circuit, including the original Blue Ranger, David Yost. Yost told ComicBook.com that not only does he want a reunion movie like the fans do, but he has even began writing it.
“I think that they would really enjoy it. I’ve already written quite specific… I would just say the beginning. I just don’t want to spoil it, so I won’t say anything, but I’ve written it, and it would definitely pay homage to Thuy Trang who played the original Yellow Ranger. And we would still come together and still be superheroes on some level.”
He talks about his own character, Billy Cranston, and what would become of him:
“I’m curious about all the characters. I’m very curious about Billy and the last time that my character was on the show he was sent into outer space. And he was living on another planet, called Aquitar. So I think it would be interesting to see what happened to Billy. Is he possibly like a commander of a Starfleet traveling space or did he become a Zordon-like character in his own right? Does he have his own team of Power Rangers helping him fight villains throughout the universe? I don’t know. Those are things that I would like to see.”
Fun fact: Yost’s character Billy Cranston was named after Breaking Bad actor Brian Cranston, who did voice work on the show.
Yost had the record for longest running original cast member, until he abruptly left the show during Power Rangers Zeo. As a kid I never noticed, but they used doubles and archive footage to film his exit. The reason for that is because Yost was harassed by the crew (he’s made it a point to say it was never the cast) because he is gay, so he walked off the show. He is still beloved by fans, and to see him come back to the franchise would be great.
Realistically though, I don’t know if it’ll ever happen. Original Green/White Ranger Jason David Frank, and original Red Ranger Austin St. John don’t really get along. If they can put aside their differences, then maybe they can make it work.
Then there is the matter of canon. Jason David Frank has returned to the franchise countless times, most recently as the Green Ranger, for the 20th Anniversary special. Would they incorporate all of Power Rangers history in the new movie? Or would it be like what the new Terminator movie is doing – ignore everything after the original three seasons and make this an “elseworld” type story?
The smart play would be to incorporate Lord Drakkon story from the comic series Power Rangers: Shattered Grid. Jason David Frank plays an alternate universe Tommy who never turned good, and is on a mission to kill all the Power Rangers from this world. It would work very well on the big screen, and Frank would be more than willing to pull double duty as Drakkon and Tommy. You can watch the short here, which was just an advertisement for the comic book series:
If they did ever get the film off the ground, Yost reminds us that the original Pink Ranger – Amy Jo Johnson is a director in her own right.
“Amy Jo’s…I consider her an amazing director. I’ve helped her out on several of her films and shorts and watched her work and I know she is very talented, and I feel I’m a very talented producer. I definitely know how to get things done and I think I would definitely make sure that the right kind of homage would be paid to all these characters, so I would love to make it happen.”
So there could be several of the original cast pulling double duty – Yost as producer/star, Johnson as director/star and Frank as villian and hero.
Now that Hasbro owns the franchise, things that didn’t happen before could happen now. So we’ll see. I would love nothing more than for this franchise to be taken seriously. It has as much potential as the Marvel Universe, yet the potential has been embarrassingly squandered.
Would you see a Power Rangers movie starring the original cast? Let’s keep our fingers crossed that it happens!
Source: ComicBook.com
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