Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers head writer Tony Oliver recently appeared on Dark Side of the Power Rangers, the latest episode of Hollywood Demons, to say it was a “mistake” to cast Black and Asian actors as the Black and Yellow Rangers due to cultural stereotypes. However, Power Rangers star Walter Emanuel Jones disagrees.
“I’ve always believed in focusing on the positive,” Jones wrote on Instagram. “I understand the impulse to address what might be seen as cultural insensitivity, but calling it a ‘mistake’ would dismiss the impact it had on countless people around the world who found inspiration and representation in TV’s first Black superhero — morphin’ into none other than the Black Power Ranger! It wasn’t a mistake; it was a milestone. It was an honor.“
Jones played Zack Taylor on Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers alongside Thuy Trang as Trini Kwan. In the documentary, Oliver said that “None of us [were] thinking stereotypes” at the time, and it wasn’t until “my assistant pointed it out in a meeting one day” that they realized what it looked like. “It was such a mistake,” he said.
Since its premiere in 1993, the Power Rangers franchise has continued with new teams protecting the Earth from any type of threat. It was announced just last month that a new live-action Power Rangers TV series is in the works for Disney+ and 20th Century TV. Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz are in talks to write, produce, and serve as showrunners of the new series. The pair are already serving as the showrunners of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which also streams on Disney+.
Hasbro will produce the new Power Rangers series, which will “reinvent the franchise for a whole new generation of fans while delighting those who already know and love the world of Power Rangers.“ The project was originally being developed for Netflix, with Jonathan Entwistle (The End of the F***ing World) overseeing a “cinematic universe” which would have included TV shows and movies. After two years of development, Hasbro decided to explore a new creative direction, and Netflix dropped out.
