30 years ago, in the year 1993, Power Rangers debuted in the United States using new elements shot here as well as footage from the Japanese Super Sentai series. I was six years old at the time and began watching this new and entertaining show that was unlike anything on television for kids at the time. Three years before CGI cartoons even really started to take off. This morphenominal show brought us Zordon and Alpha 5 who recruited five teenagers with attitudes.
Fast forward 30 years later, and we’re still doing the same thing. However the roles have often changed and the powers, Zords, and morphers have as well as their mentors. During that time, many of the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and their subsequent replacements during that era would reprise their roles often throughout the 30-year saga to play mentor or simply jump into the action-kicking monster and alien butts across the universe.
I know I know, this is supposed to be on Cosmic Fury. But I couldn’t get into that part without the set up. We do love our nostalgia and series here at the GCRN. I also want to premise this with, I am still a big fan of this series, but especially with the return of classic rangers to the fold or something from my childhood which is why, Once & Always was such an important and fun piece for me as well. And while it technically is standalone from Cosmic Fury, some elements do tie into this saga.
—-This Review, WILL feature some spoilers—-
Cosmic Fury
As we know, Billy Cranston, as well as Lord Zedd are back for this likely finale in the 30 year saga. Lord Zedd being the Rangers most difficult and dangerous foe over the years who has come and gone until he was restored by the Z-Wave of Zordon’s tube’s destruction. But in Dino Fury, a resurrection took place with him first being a controlled puppet and finally his strings were cut leaving him to his own desires again.
Billy, is still trying to resurrect Zordon and bring him back to the land of the living by finding his essence but that string was more or less dropped as was Alpha 5 from Once & Always.
This saga continues on from Dino Fury‘s Rangers as they are fighting a battle with multiple Rangers from different series as well as Billy, and Ninja Steele‘s Mick Kanic. This season begins six months after the events of Dino Fury.
It’s Morphin Time! Power Rangers Cosmic Fury will premiere exclusively on @Netflix September 29th and include the return of the Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger, Billy Cranston. Check out the all-new theme song now! 💥 pic.twitter.com/ZKSdRFjR5A
— POWER⚡️RANGERS (@PowerRangers) August 17, 2023
With the series going full circle, it only makes sense to bring back Zedd and Billy. Billy functioned as a technologist and mentor for Zeo before moving on. What’s important is the wisdom and help technologically that he can impart on these recent Rangers and the draw of the original Rangers coming into the fold for against their greatest foe.
Highlights
A lot happens in this season and while I wished it had more episodes or a draw to a grander conclusion, along with wishes and hopes for things to see, it does end on a satisfying note. Like I said, not spoiling that part but I had wished that there were some things they’d have tweaked or shown.
We also have the Master Rangers who are fighting this battle against Zedd and the Squid people. Mick morphs into Ninja Steele Red due to the Master Ranger Red giving him the ability again. And we have a broken Dino Fury crew due to Zedd’s machinations. A returned trope of an evil ranger, stealing the Dino Fury morphing ability and the Master Rangers powers for Zedd’s evil scheme.
We also got the discovering of new Zords on Zordonia. I know, silly name but it works here. But one Ranger had to make a sacrifice to bring the Zords to life. The same world where the Shogun Zords originated in MMPR but this was to give them the Cosmic Fury Zords.
The Morphin Masters gave their staff to unleash the Zords and there we have the evolution bit. Billy as the original MMPR Ranger even pilots one at one point. There is more MMPR nods but I’ll leave that for you to discover as you watch as they were tasteful and short enough to be a gentle nod not taking away from this new crew.
Lowlights
The whole squid people, television reality and influencer twist was by and far the most annoyingly campy part that I wished we could have done without. It made MMPR 30 years ago look immensely more menacing by comparison to how stupid this part was.
We did get to see bonuses to this but this was the most annoying part. The ending, I wasn’t surprised at in the slightest but wish we’d have gotten something different for what is likely the series finale and culmination of 30 years of Power Rangers.
Power Rangers Cosmic Fury
This new Season has a lot happening in the short 10 episode run. Many returns, many nods, many new aspects to the abilities of the Rangers like remote Zords, revivals, teases of revivals, and even a powered up Lord Zedd. I won’t spoil how or what he looks like, but it is impressive.
The modular Zords is one of the coolest parts but so is having a new Red Ranger who earns the role from being the Pink Ranger in Dino Fury. Leading her team despite all the loss of teammates and issues coming, Amelia earns her leadership role. And even seeing Zayto return as a new Ranger, but not as Red was interesting.
I will preface this with saying, I’ve only paid attention to Power Rangers over the years if there is some tie to the original MMPR Rangers and Villains. Lord Zedd, sadly is missing some of the bass and depth of his original voice actor, Robert Axelrod, who sadly is not among us any longer having passed away a few years ago. This new actor does a good job but it feels lacking the gravitas. Zedd either way is still an impressive villain but was often brooding due to sharing the spotlight with the Squidly’s as I’m calling them.
Billy was great, but I also wished we’d gotten some more of the original MMPR actors involved. But this series left me wanting more, and while unlikely we’ll get a Season 2, this series and Dino Fury were only made under Netflix as they approach getting a complete reboot. Needing more time for this complete reboot, they needed or opted to finish the one started 30 years ago to go without the use of Super Sentai footage and less camp to bring a more modern look to Power Rangers.
But will that work? Time will tell but the whole thing about Power Rangers is the camp and footage tied with the newly shot Americanized plots and storylines. If it ain’t broke…
Conclusion
While this was a slight overview, tease and review rolled into one without giving too much details, I think it’s well worth the watch. Netflix has done great fan service with giving us a finale to the 30 year span of Power Rangers and Once & Always again tying into the MMPR saga. And without Jason David Frank here to join in after his passing last November, and hanging up his morpher in 2018, David Yost’s Billy Cranston is the perfect one to end the saga since we’ve had years of the other MMPR crew popping up from time to time.
I’d definitely recommend this series if you’ve seen Dino Fury, and also want to see the conclusion to 30 years of Power Rangers. Is it perfect? No, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I already stated a few gripes but will likely cover it in a podcast of either Altered Geek or From The Command Center in the future. Either way, it was great getting the nostalgia kick from Lord Zedd, Billy, and Mick, as well as seeing how the series was going to end since I’d been there from the beginning. Go, Go, Power Rangers!
