After a year of radio silence, the Power Rangers franchise seems to have roared to life over the past few months. With an anticipated live-action reboot series for Disney+, 3 new comics series from BOOM! Studios, and a new toy line all moving along, it’s a good time to be a Power Rangers fan. All of that activity also makes it easy to forget about a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series that was supposed to have already released, but after a substantial delay with no end in sight, a promising update has finally arrived.
One of the popular talking points last year was the upcoming final chapter of the Power Rangers Ninja Kidz series, which was reuniting the cast to finish out the story that was started by a group of fans back in 2017. The series’ release was put into question after reports stated there were some behind-the-scenes issues, but TokuNation has reported that a Playmates Toys representative at Toy Fair stated they are in belief that they’ve found a way forward with Hasbro for the Ninja Kidz series release, and it is expected later this year.
Will Power Rangers Ninja Kidz’ Finale Finally Release, and What’s Holding it Up?
For those who are unfamiliar with the Power Rangers Ninja Kidz series, the Ninja Kidz YouTube channel released the first episode of the series back in 2017. The series would become quite popular over the years, and fans watched the cast grow up in their roles as Rangers over the course of 9 episodes, with the 9th episode releasing in 2022.
Since then, many fans of the original series were hoping to see the story they started concluded, and last year, the news hit that many of the original cast members from the series were returning to wrap up the story and give the series a proper send-off.
Then, set photos started emerging that looked immensely promising, and some of the action looked quite slick. The updated costumes also looked fantastic, so word of mouth was starting to gain momentum. That seemed to change, however, when footage leaked of a trailer that featured several bits of AI visual effects, especially in terms of Lord Zedd and Goldar. That received immediate pushback from the online community, but there was evidently another issue going on behind the scenes.
Ninja Kidz creator Shane Myler would address the project’s status in a statement to Legacy of Nerd. Myler said that when the team submitted a draft of the teaser and a draft of the first episode to Hasbro and Playmates Toys in September, the reactions were positive from both companies, but that changed in October when Hasbro issued a cease and desist. Hasbro claimed that Playmates Toys didn’t have the authority to make a deal with Ninja Kidz, and then also highlighted that the episodes looked too professional, which could interfere with their official reboot for Disney+.
Myler would then address the AI issues, stating that many of the generative AI effects used in the leaked teaser (which was a rough cut to submit to Hasbro and not an official release) were only placeholders and were meant to be replaced when things were approved and directions were cemented.
It’s been a bit quiet on the show’s front early in the year, but then at Toy Fair, fans noticed that the Ninja Kidz’ logo was part of Playmates Toys’ booth, which featured all of the new figures coming to the Re-Ignition line. That was promising in itself, but now it seems that there may have been some productive discussions behind the scenes on the series, and it may just finally be released later this year. I genuinely hope it ends up being released, as it not only showed substantial promise, but it is also meant to close a chapter of a delightful fan-led project that more than deserves its shine.
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