At Summer Game Fest earlier this month, Digital Eclipse surprised and delighted viewers with a reveal for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita's Rewind, an all-new game coming to PC and consoles later this year. At the heart of the game is the villain Robo-Rita, who previously appeared in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always. In a new interview with Time Extension, Digital Eclipse content editor Dan Amrich talked about the connection between these two projects, and how Rita's Revenge builds off Robo-Rita's plans from the movie.

"Once and Always felt like a love letter to fans, something that allowed the 30th anniversary's nostalgia while also acknowledging that fans who grew up with the franchise have never really left. We enjoyed that special and since it was the most recent major Power Rangers event, we thought that'd be a great place to start," Amrich told Time Extension. "Then we just started dreaming the way other fans do -- 'Oh, Robo-Rita made a time portal! Well, what if she actually succeeded with her plan? Knowing all the ways she'd been defeated over the years, what would Robo-Rita do if she could go back in time and share all those spoilers with her younger self?' It gave us a great excuse to play with both modern and classic elements from the franchise."

Basically, it sounds like the developers used the Netflix film as a jumping on point, and as a way of revisiting characters and elements spanning the earliest days of the Power Rangers franchise. That means if you're concerned about the continuity aspects, it manages to explain why the team will have to once again take down foes defeated throughout the show's first few seasons. It's an intriguing approach, and connecting the game to a high-profile, well-regarded Power Rangers film is a smart way to appeal to both hardcore fans, and those newer to the franchise.

It remains to be seen whether Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita's Rewind will be able to rank with the best video games based on the property. From the excellent Natsume games of the Super Nintendo era, to the mostly well-received Battle for the Grid. Thankfully, fans won't have to wait much longer to find out, as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita's Rewind will arrive this year on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

Are you excited for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita's Rewind? How do you feel about the connection to Once & Always? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

Power Rangers fans have been waiting diligently for any news regarding the in-development Netflix live-action series, but unfortunately, the news as of now is far from what they hoped to hear. TV Line has confirmed that the live-action series is no longer moving forward at Netflix (via an original report from @Jinsakuu), and Hasbro Entertainment, who owns the franchise, will now explore a new creative direction for the show and a new partner. Jonathan Entwistle was overseeing the series while Jenny Klein was the series showrunner, but so far Entwistle, Klein, Netflix, nor Hasbro have commented on the status of the series.

Jinsakuu's original report stated that Hasbro is looking to do something similar to what it just did with the Power Rangers toy line. Earlier this year Hasbro revealed that it had licensed the Power Rangers toys to Playmates, which will start to roll out their lines next year. It's stated that Hasbro is looking to follow a similar path for the Power Rangers TV rights and that they are trying to be as hands-off as possible.

On Twitter, Jinsakuu wrote, "Due to the lack of staff and all the departments and responsibilities Hasbro had to take on. They're lisencing Power Rangers Toys and Media off to other companies. As we seen with playmates who now own full control of the toys they're doing the same with the show rights. Also they're trying to be as hands off as possible and still own the franchises revenues. So good news maybe ??"

Netflix has been a frequent partner of Hasbro over the past few years, and over the past year or so that's also been the case with Power Rangers. Power Rangers: Dino Fury and Cosmic Fury both called Netflix their exclusive home, while Netflix was also the place to find the 30th Anniversary special Once & Always. At one time there were far bigger plans for the franchise at the streamer, especially with Entwistle involved.

Entwistle co-created I Am Not Okay With This and The End of the F***ing World for Netflix, and in 2020 he was announced as the overseer of the franchise in both TV and film. It was all rumored to be part of a grand plan to connect those various areas of the franchise moving forward, presenting a vision that captured the nostalgia and iconic elements of the series while also creating a vision for the future. That has unfortunately not come to fruition as of yet, and now it's murky if that vision will ultimately happen.

We'll have to wait and see if this is overhauled completely or if tenants of the original plan remain and just find a different home, but hopefully, there will be more clarity soon.

What do you hope to see from the Power Rangers franchise moving forward? You can talk all things Power Rangers with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!