Power Rangers Needs a Sequel

I watched Saban’s 2017’s Power Rangers again and I have to say that I still very much enjoy it. I don’t think it’s great but I think it’s good. Check out my review here and my thoughts on the MMPR show here.

I don’t know what the state of a sequel is at the moment but I think there is plenty of room for them to make one. I know it had mixed reviews but I think there were a lot of people who at least thought it was good and would see a sequel, especially if they bring Lord Zedd and Tommy Oliver into the mix.

There are some big things they need to do in order to make it work. So below are going to be some of my ideas of how a sequel could work and what they should do because while the first one didn’t do a huge grab of money, I think it has become a kind of cult film, and I think a lot of people enjoyed it enough to merit a sequel.

Tommy Oliver

I definitely would love for Tommy to be in the sequel because he is such an iconic power ranger that it would be crazy to not introduce him in the sequel. I do have a lot of ideas of how that would work that would still pay homage to the show and how his character was written and handled. Obviously with it being a movie, it would require a shorter arc, but I actually think it would work depending on how they handle it.

Tommy in the Show

In the show, Tommy is introduced at a karate tournament and we can see from the jump that he is a skilled fighter and is competitive to an extent. He and Jason have a mutual respect of each other from that fight, but Rita also sees this and she brainwashes Tommy to become her Green Ranger and fight against the Power Rangers. He is a formidable foe for a long time.

He then becomes a great ally for them, but Rita does try later to get him back on her side a few times, or she strips his powers away until he leaves for good and then comes back as the White Ranger. Soooooo for the movie, I think we can do all of that, just without trying to fit it all into ONE movie. That’s where it will make or break the movie.

Tommy in the Movie

Right before the rangers received their Zeo powers, they were turned into kids and they had to go on Spirit Quests to find the meaning of being a Power Ranger or something. So they went to their ancestral backgrounds, each one having a different ethnic background which I thought was really cool. Tommy comes from a Native tribe. Jason David Frank’s real brother, played his brother in the show and it’s clear they have a Native background. David (Tommy’s brother) was adopted as well, but into a family on the reservation while Tommy was adopted by a different family. So there was a whole history he didn’t know about and it became really important for him later on. I really want to keep that. So that leads me into Tommy Oliver’s casting.

I am against the idea of him being a girl. I know that some fans want it and the cast don’t mind it, but I don’t think it’s a smart idea because that does nothing other than balance out the team and we don’t really need it, it’s never really been a big deal. I have a lot of thoughts on that actually but I’ll just keep them to myself.

So with that said…. *drum roll* 

Booboo Stewart I choose you!!!!!!!!!!

I think he would be a GREAT Tommy Oliver.

He’s handsome, just like Jason David Frank as Tommy. He has long hair, which is iconic Tommy Oliver (until his Black Ranger days), he has Native background, and he has experience in physical fighting.

Someone on the internet agreed.

He’s perfect. I mean look at the gif. I don’t know who made it but they’re awesome because as soon as I saw a picture of him, I can’t unsee it and I want him to be Tommy. He’s about the same age as the other actors, he still looks young enough to be in high school just like the others. He can play that confidence that Tommy has, he is good-natured, kind, compassionate and sometimes aloof. I think Booboo Stewart can play all of that. Plus, whenever he’s serious and fighting, I can picture his serious fighting face and I think I can take it seriously. Plus, I can imagine him actually being a possible leader for the Rangers and how he and Jason (Dacre Montgomery) could butt heads every now and then.

The things about Tommy that need to be in the movie, alongside his background, is that he’s always late and forgetful. One of the big things the show talked about with Tommy is that his memory is terrible most times and he comes off as aloof at times. He’s a nice guy but I can see why people might find him intimidating.

Tommy should also be the only one of the group who has a background in martial arts, since they didn’t give that to Jason or even Zack as well. He often liked to teach karate classes in the community center for younger kids and self-defense. I think this would add tension to the group with him and Jason since he actually has a background in physical fighting. In the show, Jason and Tommy did have a little bit of a rivalry but never to the point where I thought Tommy would try to be the leader, it’s like a friendly rivalry and this would be a good starting point. They had a mutual respect and were “friends” but I never considered them best friends like the show later tried to make it seem like, it never happened on-screen at least to me. I don’t think they should do that here either. Jason in the movie is close with Billy and Kimberly as of right now, and I think they should make Tommy close to Kimberly (obviously) and maybe Trini or Zack depending on how they would react to him. I actually don’t think in the movie Tommy and Jason would get along right away.

What They Should Do for Tommy

So, we already know there is going to be a Tommy Oliver, since the detention teacher called his name but he wasn’t there. I can imagine that he’s in detention for being chronically late, or for fighting. Since they all had some baggage, Tommy should have some too. He’s adopted and I think he should know it, he knew it in the show as his parents were white and he’s not. Perhaps he has a bit of an identity crisis, he wants to know where he comes from, he’s forgetful and always late, so that would get him in trouble in school.

I want to say that we are officially introduced to him being late to class instead of the karate tournament since there isn’t really a reason for there to be a karate tournament, at least not that’s a serious one lol. I think it would be great since it would let Kimberly and Jason meet him at the same time.

So picture this: 

It’s Monday Morning at Angel Grove High School. Kimberly Hart and Jason Scott are in History class, talking quietly to each other about a mission they handled that morning.

Kimberly (laughs): What was his name again?

Jason: Bones I think. I mean where do these people come from?

Kimberly (shrugs): I don’t know but I need them not to show up before school.

A few more students file in before the teacher closes the door, clapping his hands to get the class’s attention. The girls throw a hushed insult at Kimberly who makes a sad face, and slumps down in her chair.

Jason: Don’t worry about them.

Teacher: Alright class, let’s get started.

The teacher teaches for about 15 minutes. Suddenly the door opens and a tall male student with long hair, walks into the classroom. He looks up from his paper startled.

Teacher (folds arms with a disappointed expression) Late again Tommy?

Tommy (sheepishly rubs the back of his neck) Yeah sorry.

Some of the students whisper to each other while looking at Tommy, as the teacher talks to him about being late to class and detention.

Tommy is not really listening to the teacher, looks out at the classroom searching for an empty chair. His eyes meet Kimberly’s and smiles.

Kimberly (smiles). 

Teacher (sighs) Take that seat over there Tommy.

Tommy walks to his seat. Some curious eyes follow him, including Kimberly’s. Jason watches and raises an eyebrow at Kimberly when she turns back around. Kimberly shrugs, picking up her pencil to doodle in her notebook. Class continues and Tommy spends most of it looking out the window. Kimberly steals a few looks every now and then.

Later that day.

Kimberly and Trini walk up to Billy, Jason and Zack standing near Billy’s open locker.

Billy (doesn’t look up and tinkers with some device) Hello Trini, hello Kimberly.

Trini & Kimberly: Hello Billy.

Zack (eating from a bag of chips) What are you even doing Billy?

As Billy talks quickly, explaining what he’s working on, Kimberly looks up seeing Tommy walk past them, his eyes on a paper in his hands. Seems like the same paper from before.  He manages to maneuver through the crowd without even looking up.

Trini (nodding towards him) That dude has been late to class all week.

Zack (crumples up his bag of chips) He was even late to Gym, I mean how are you late to gym?

Jason (shakes his head seeing Tommy disappear around the corner) He’s kind of new right? Hasn’t been here that long and already is in detention. What’s his name again?

Kimberly Tommy Oliver.

Everyone looks at her, Zack raises his eyebrows and Trini hides her smirk. Kimberly looks at them and shrugs.

Kimberly (shrugs) What?

Something like that would be a good introduction for him. It would cover his lateness, his loner like personality in the beginning and it would put him this kind of mysterious light.

The Villains

In the show the big baddies, like Rita and Lord Zedd created the monsters for the power rangers to fight, but since they slapped Rita to the moon, she needs to be found first. So I would want the movie to open with the rangers fighting with the very first MMPR monsters Bones (he’s a skull monster) but he’s just a monster who came out of the woodwork because the rangers are back. I would like to have them fight someone when the movie starts, so the audience can see that they are still rangers and that we don’t have to wait till the end to see them suit up again.

I think the Green Ranger should be the main villain of the sequel. I definitely don’t want them to have too many villains in one movie. I do think that they should at least introduce Lord Zedd since I like to believe that he would be the one to help tempt Rita over the dark side before she officially turned on her team. I think that would be a good way for them to be connected and for him to have a reason to find her on the moon. Now, I don’t necessarily think that Lord Zedd himself has to be the one to find her, but perhaps he sends Finster and some other subordinates to rescue her frozen body and revive her or whatever. That way, we know Lord Zedd exists (almost the same way Marvel handled Thanos) and that he’s a threat but we don’t necessarily need to see him yet. This way, Rita can conduct her business on snaring Tommy to her side. Perhaps, she’s too weak to use the green power coin herself, so she needs someone else to do her dirty work, plus it would be beneficial for her to make Tommy work for her, since he’s strong and a good fighter, he’s new and mysterious and no one would think the new Evil Green Ranger would be this quiet, kind new kid Tommy.

I would also prefer that he really played with them, in the show, when he became evil, he was mean. He was even mean to Kimberly, not that it was really him but I think that even though he’ll be under Rita’s influence, he should be able to play it where the other Rangers have no idea who the green ranger is. I think that will be more interesting and it would allow the other rangers to freak out way more.

In the show Tommy is introduced in a karate tournament, but perhaps it doesn’t necessarily happen that way but instead he gets into a fight. All of the others deal with not really getting along with all the other students, at least not all the time, but I think Tommy would have that same kind of problem. He’s the new kid, he’s kind of quiet, and I think he would have a little bit of an anger issue when it comes to his background. He’s adopted, and I can’t imagine that he would be upset about it but he is a teenager and he could be having trouble with identity. But maybe someone says something to him, something about being adopted, maybe some guys are messing with him, I don’t know, but he fights to defend himself. Obviously he’s a better fighter than the other rangers so she’s impressed and kidnaps him, makes him pass her tests, and then does the whole Evil Green thing. I believe the sequel could really focus on this, and really allow us to see the kind of hold that Rita manages to hold over Tommy, especially since she was previously the green ranger and she passed on that power to Tommy. Plus, I think they shouldn’t allow the Rangers to know that it’s Tommy so quickly, let him be a threat. Rita had this kind of sensual, in-your-face personality, and I think Elizabeth Banks would really be able to play that up with Booboo Stewart and he would be great playing off her.

I also think it would be great to see Booboo Stewart play the worry and fear that he has later on about her coming to take him back, and all of that kind of stuff. *sighs* It would be so great!!

Kimberly Hart

So in the movie, Kimberly did an awful thing to her friend. Yeah she got bullied later, but she did a horrible thing and it’s kind of hard to forget such a thing. I feel like there should be something that redeems her, yeah she’s a power ranger, but no one knows that, so I think she needs to be redeemed in a way that doesn’t make her look like a terrible person. She told Jason that she felt bad, but she needs to apologize to that girl and I don’t know something else, they can’t just brush it under the rug. Obviously she won’t really be the “popular girl” anymore, but she should remain likable to the viewers.

In the trailer, they showed her and Jason share a kiss, and then they kind of had a closer relationship than they did in the show, which is fine, but I never thought that they had any kind of romantic potential in the show, even in the Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie I didn’t think about that. It’s always been Tommy and Kimberly and I don’t think the movie should ignore that. Now, I don’t really think a love triangle would be something they should do but if it must happen, it must be a good one. I’m firmly on the Tommy/Kimberly train no matter what, so I would prefer that’s the end game but I think that Kimberly and Tommy should have a lot of great moments together. I think Booboo Stewart and Naomi Campbell would have great chemistry together and they would be cute together as well. They’re both people of color, which is also great.

The Rangers

I think the way they handled the other Rangers is fine for the most part, they’re all likable I think. Yeah, they’re different from the show, but I think their personalities are still pretty on point and I liked that about the movie. This movie should begin with them fighting a monster, I did suggest earlier that it could be the very first monster they ever fought, but it doesn’t have to  be. They don’t have to still be newbs at being rangers. It doesn’t really have to be a year or anything, but enough time to pass where they’re used to it and have grown into their roles and their friendship. They just have to make sure we believe that they’ve spent time together as a team and unit.

Jason- He’s still kind of the strong, silent type that he was in the show, but it was clear at the end, that he grew into being the leader of his team. Now, let us see him leading them. He was kind of like the Captain America of the group, in that he was patriotic sort of guy, who loves being a hero and saving the world, he is the guy next door but he has his moments too. I don’t want to see the movie Jason turn into that guy who just is broody because he can’t play football anymore. If anything, let him get back into football since he’s not already a black belt… or have him switch gears and take to learning martial arts more so he can be a better ranger…I definitely want more substance with him.

Billy- Definitely my favorite from the movie, I loved what they did with him, but he still the same smart, kind of awkward kid from the show. We got to see a lot of him, he was the heart of the film, and I don’t want that to be lost just because we got a lot of it in the first movie. In the show, Billy and Trini were close and she could understand his technobabble and I actually would love it if they did that here too. Billy and Jason were close but I’d also like for Billy and Trini to be close too. It would be a great friendship. I also would like to see him working alongside Zordon and Alpha more as well, since he did come up with a lot of the Rangers’ upgrades and what not.

Trini- She seemed very quiet in the movie, not that she wasn’t in the show, but she was a loner. She also seemed to love yoga, so make sure that’s kept in her personality, someone who is maybe a little spiritual in nature or something. It was clear that she and Kimberly already were growing into a nice friendship, just continue making it stronger, definitely not one where Trini has a crush on her straight friend. Let her really explore her sexuality since it was hinted at in the first movie, that’s fine. Just allow her to really grow into that, and let her meet someone, whether it be at school or someone she meets at a yoga class or something, someone who is separate from the rangers. I don’t mind the girlfriend knowing she’s a ranger, to avoid the whole “secret” thing, but they don’t also have to make her be suspicious of Trini either. Regardless, Trini needs more screen time, with her family, particularly her brothers and like I said in Billy’s section, I would like for them to be close like they were in the show.

Zack- So he’s very outgoing, brash, and seems to just love living life, which is great because that’s how he was in the show. They gave him a plot with a sick mother, so is she always sick? Will she get better? Let’s definitely explore that since we didn’t get a lot of that either. He is a boundless supply of energy, and he seems to be kind of a parkour bro, I don’t know why, he just comes off that way, so I definitely want him to be able to do something active outside of being a ranger. He was also pretty intelligent in the show, which matched Jason’s gung-ho attitude (they were besties), so I think he should be as well. We don’t know anything about him in school other than the fact that he’s a truant, soooo… I don’t know but let’s get Zack something more to do. I also think that he and Trini would be really good friends as well, since they had a nice kind of chemistry in the first movie. Perhaps when Tommy comes into the picture, he could get close with him. I think Ludi Lin and Booboo Stewart could really work off each other.

Future Rangers

This is for mainly down the line, maybe after a saga (4) or three strong movies. I want to believe they were Sophomores in the first movie so we can really get to see them do their thing for a while.

In the show we get Adam, Rocky and Aisha towards the end of the Mighty Morphin Era due to the controversy around the money issues, but I don’t think we really need Aisha or Rocky (until later) unfortunately. I don’t see why Jason, Trini and Zack would leave prematurely for new rangers to come into the mix, unless Adam, Rocky and Aisha are a year or so younger than our original rangers. In the show, Tommy came back as the White Ranger and while it’s iconic, it’s not as iconic as his Green Ranger, Black Ranger, and Red Zeo Ranger so I’m not sure if I really want him to ever be the White Ranger in the movie. It doesn’t bother me too much either way but I don’t think we really need it. It doesn’t really fit since I can’t imagine anything happen that would make three of our rangers leaving prematurely. However, it gets a little tricky in there because I do really like Adam and then later down the line Tanya. Rocky and Aisha I don’t really have to have.

If, down the line, there are legitimate reasons, then it could happen. But only with legitimate reasons instead of some STUPID SUMMIT. Otherwise, it might just be better to have Aisha, Rocky and Adam be younger than our original rangers so they can age out gracefully… but that would be odd for Tommy who is the same age as our original rangers. *sighs* If I was involved, I would really make sure the timing was done correctly lol.

• Zack– Maybe Zack’s mother passes away and since Zack is underage, he has to leave and live with family elsewhere, which is how he ends up passing the Black Ranger on to Adam. Prematurely. I think he’s the only one who could really work in having to leave prematurely in order to get Adam.

• Jason- I kind of like to think he’s a year ahead of the others. So, he could probably just graduate and is playing football at some awesome college and he passes the Red Ranger on to Rocky. OR they could change it up and pass it on to Tommy which would prevent us from ever seeing the White Ranger and having Rocky be useless as the Red Ranger.

• Trini- In the movie, her family moves a lot so maybe they move again which causes her having to pass along her Yellow Ranger power to Aisha. OR we just never get an Aisha since she didn’t stay that long and go right into Zeo and she can pass it on to Tanya who I like way more than Aisha anyway.

• Kimberly- In the show Kimberly left during the last season of Mighty Morphin in order to pursue her dreams as a gymnast is Florida. This Kimberly isn’t into gymnastics so she wouldn’t leave for that, maybe she gives it up for swimming? Since she dived her behind into that water on the mountain. I don’t know. There was still at least two years of school left before they graduated during the Turbo times. Katherine is the Pink Zeo Ranger, so unless they don’t do the whole thing where Katherine is evil and working for Rita (which means NO KATHERINE) then it’s not like Kimberly can actively age out. Like I said, the only new rangers I really liked and cared about until we had new people completely was Adam and Tanya. Soooo I don’t know lol. But since I want her with Tommy, it might be good to have her not leave prematurely at all.

• Billy- Later, he becomes like the “man in the chair” for the team when they take the Zeo powers and Rocky becomes the Blue Zeo Ranger. So, perhaps if they all graduated out, then Billy can find Rocky, perhaps Rocky is nice to him or something, and he chooses him to take his place as the new Ranger. That would allow Rocky to have importance because when he was the Red MMPR he was pretty useless since Tommy was the leader and technically the Red Ranger is the leader and it was awkward sometimes lol. Makes more sense to me.

• Tommy- In the show, he loses his green ranger powers, which is fine if they do that in the movie, but instead of making him the White Ranger, they should just wait on discovering Rocky until the Zeo era, if they do that, and let Jason pass on the Red Ranger powers to Tommy. Which would be a nice thing since they started off kind of adversaries and had to build a trusting friendship. I think that’s better than giving the red ranger powers to some random kid who never really gets to be the leader. So when he becomes the Red Zeo Ranger, it’s seamless. It just flows better to me.

Overall

I just want this movie to really pull from the show in how the characters interacted with each other because they were all friends, even if some were closer than others. That’s fine. I just want this sequel to be stronger than the first movie. Let’s get those rangers in at the beginning, audiences want to see the power rangers, so make sure they have the chance to suit up throughout. It was great finally seeing them suit up in the last act of the film, but this time, we know they can morph, we know they’re a team, so let’s get it!

Rita needs to come back, but not as the main villain, get Lord Zedd to have her saved, so she can destroy the rangers and try to destroy the goodness that’s in Tommy Oliver in the process. We need Tommy Oliver in the sequel because he is iconic, whether you like him or not. It took a while for him to officially join the team, doesn’t mean he’s going to take over, really have him have to integrate into the team because teenage friendships are really formed in a day. Really allow the Green Ranger to be an adversary for the others, which means MORE RANGER SCREEN TIME! It would be awesome. I feel like the sequel could be great if they really took their time to make sure it flows as a movie.

Look, I will help, I will do the hard work. Let me help! Give me a call! I mean seriously. Either way, I think Saban will make Tommy a dude, because while it would be interesting for him to be a girl, it wouldn’t work. If you’re interested to know why I think that, you can comment below and we can chat, but at the end of the day, HIRE BOOBOO STEWART!!!!

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This video below is for your viewing pleasure. It is a SCI-Fi teaser, that I think is being turned into a full length movie, not too sure, but it stars Booboo Stewart and THIS is why he should play Tommy Oliver in the Power Rangers sequel.