The producer of the mega-violent Power Rangers fan film that went viral in 2015 is pursuing a more official production of the franchise.
Adi Shankar, who produced POWER/RANGERS from Torque director Joseph Kahn, said in a recent interview that he’s working on another dark, adult-oriented retelling of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series, this time in animation.
“It’s a complete retelling of the first three seasons,” said Shankar in a recent interview. “And it’s going to be really fucking dark. Darker than any other Power Rangers series.”
Shankar’s vision for his second Power Rangers reboot would retell the first three seasons of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, before the show evolved into Power Rangers Zeo in its fourth season. Shankar said there’s interest from networks, but he’s hoping his project gets picked up by Netflix based on its track record for successful, long-form serial storytelling. “Netflix is doing what every other network should be doing,” said Shankar. “I’ve worked with almost every network and Netflix just gets it. The world we live in now has disrupted the idea of what entertainment is and Netflix gets it.”
Shankar’s other big project is a R-Rated Castlevania series for Netflix.
This isn’t the first time the Power Rangers were considered for animation. When Disney owned the property in the 2000s, an animated series was in the works before it was quietly canned. When Saban regained ownership in 2010, a CGI animated film titled Power Rangers: Origins was supposed to hit theaters in 2012. A teaser trailer surfaced online in 2015 and was promptly taken down by Saban, but low-res rips still exist on YouTube.
Shankar’s untitled animated reboot isn’t officially in production besides network interest, but it might not get very far either. Shankar’s POWER/RANGERS caused a ruckus a few years ago and was temporarily shut down by Haim Saban, which wants to maintain the family-friendly image for the series. Saban eventually relented and allowed Shankar’s movie to stay online.
Meanwhile, the PG-13 Power Rangers reboot from Lionsgate will be released on March 24.
