Power Rangers Once Cast Bryan Cranston As The Red Ranger, And That Made A Lot More Sense Than I Thought

Power Rangers (2017) cast Bryan Cranston as Zordon, but the Breaking Bad star, who already had a history with the franchise, ended up playing one of my favorite versions of Red Ranger too. Long before he played the hilarious Hal in Malcolm in the middle and won dozens of awards for his portrayal of Walter White in Breaking Bad, Cranston had some voice roles in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He played Snizzard in the first of the monster's multiple appearances and later voiced Twin Man, another monster of the week.

Given Cranston's history with Power Rangersplus how his career skyrocketed a few years later MMPR and eventually led to him starring in one of the biggest television shows of all time, the fact that he was cast as Zordon in the 2017 film has me incredibly excited for the reboot. Not only did Cranston play Zordon as a full-circle moment for both the actor and the franchise, but he also indicated that the reboot wanted to do something new and exciting with the 1990s classic. Power Rangers characters. Curiously, Cranston's version of Zordon was also the Red Ranger.

Power Rangers (2017) turned Bryan Cranston's Zordon into the Original Red Ranger

Zordon was once a Power Ranger in this universe

Power Rangers (2017) begins with a prehistoric team of Rangers from outer space crashing their Zords into a Cenozoic Earth while rogue Green Ranger Rita Repulsa betrays them and kills everyone but the Red Ranger. In this version of the story, Zordon was the original Red Ranger whose team died in battle. Deeply wounded and hoping to stop Rita Repulsa from escaping, Zordon had Alpha change the trajectory of a meteorite to Earth so that he and Rita would die. However, none of them exactly died. Zordon's essence was transferred to a ship, while Zita eventually returned.

Even though I was waiting Power Rangers (2017) to play with the franchise's canon and do new things, I never imagined seeing Zordon and Rita as former Power Rangers. In the original show, although Zordon and Rita were intergalactic beings, they were not former Rangers. While not much is revealed about Zordon's past in the original show, we eventually learn that the Power Coins used by the Rangers to transform were created by Ninjor. On reboot, the Power Rangers were of alien originwith Zordon trapped on Earth after Rita's betrayal.

Zordon, being a former Red Ranger, was a genius idea for a Power Rangers reboot

Power Rangers (2017) made some smart changes to the franchise's lore

In hindsight, Making Zordon a former Red Ranger was an amazing ideaespecially for a reboot. In the original Power Rangers continuity, Zordon was basically a “space wizard” from the planet Eltar who lost his body and used his powers to guide different teams of Rangers. For example, although this is never shown on screen, Zordon advised In space Andros, Red Ranger. By making Zordon the original Mighty Morphin Red Ranger, the 2017 film streamlined the franchise's lore and added a personal touch to Zordon's crusade to bring together a new team of heroes.

I loved this too Rita Repulsa was the original Green Ranger in the 2017 reboot. Rita Repulsa was the one who created the evil Green Ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers brainwashing Tommy Oliver and giving him a corrupted Power Coin, so it only made sense for her to be connected to the Green Ranger in the reboot as well. Unfortunately, even if Power Rangers' post-credits scene teased Tommy Oliver, we never got to see what this universe's version of “Green With Evil” would be like, as a sequel never happened.

I really wish Power Rangers would use the 2017 film's lore in other stories

Power Rangers reboot ideas died with the film's box office

Power Rangers (2017) bombed at the box office and never got a sequel, which is unfortunate for several reasons. Firstly, Power Rangers has such a vast knowledge of characters and locations that it would have created a very fun cinematic universe, with sequels and potential spinoffs. Plus, all of the reboot's cool new ideas may never be used again. Concepts such as Zordon being the former Red Ranger or Rita being a hero are not part of the franchise's main canon and may never be revisited.

Until BOOM! Studios Power Rangers the comics preferred to follow the tradition of the original show, although they tell many original stories and create new connections within the existing sandbox. Power Rangers (2017) had a comic book sequel shortly after the film's release, but it was a one-off story that was never continued into a full series. If no other Power Rangers story always reimagines Zordon as a former Power Ranger, I'm glad the 2017 reboot at least tried something different with Bryan Cranston's character.