This year marks the 30th anniversary of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, and fans of the series are in for a treat. Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Once & Always will premiere to Netflix subscribers in April, and among the things we know about this Power Rangers special is that it’ll bring back a lot of familiar faces from that era of morphenomenal action. However, Amy Jo Johnson, who played Kimberly, the original Pink Ranger, did not participate in it. Not to worry though, as Johnson is still involved with the Power Rangers franchise in a cool way.
Since 2016, Boom! Studios has been publishing Power Rangers comics, many of which have been met with positive critical reception. Now Amy Jo Johnson will be lending her talents to this corner of the franchise, as she is co-writing a comic book series with her partner/director Matt Hotson. This series will debut next year, and Johnson informed Variety that she thought up the idea for it before the pandemic became widespread in early 2020. In her words:
I was daydreaming about it and mentioned it to my boyfriend, Matt. He said, ‘Why don’t you try to write it as a comic book?’ We had all the time on our hands, so we daydreamed up this entire comic book series knowing the 30th anniversary was coming.
Although no specific plot details for Amy Jo Johnson’s Power Rangers comic book series were revealed, the actress said that it would be different from the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers “in the sense that it’s my version.” Working on this comic book series also led Johnson to watch Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers episodes for the first time, because after leaving the series in 1995, she “moved on” and had no idea how much this “upset” fans. Following her original tenure as Kimberly, Johnson briefly reprised the character in 1997’s Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, and she also cameoed in the 2017 Power Rangers reboot movie alongside her late costar Jason David Frank as an Angel Grove citizen.
While it was originally believed that Amy Jo Johnson didn’t come back for Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Once & Always due to a pay dispute, she debunked this claim last week and has since told Variety that “a bunch of different factors came into play,” including working on other projects, taking care of a 14-year-old and not acting anymore. Still, at least Power Rangers fans can take comfort knowing she’s back to contributing to the franchise in a different way, so now we just have to wait and see what kind of story she and Matt Hotson crafted.
Meanwhile, the Pink Ranger mantle will instead be carried in Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Once & Always by Catherine Sutherland’s Kat, who succeeded Kimberly in the original series. She’ll be joined by David Yost’s Billy, Walter Emanuel Jones’ Zack, Steve Cardenas’ Rocky, Johnny Yong Bosch’s Adam and Karan Ashley’s Aisha, along with Barbara Goodson and Richard Steven Horvitz vocally reprising Rita Repulsa and Alpha 5, respectively. Prior to his passing in November 2022, Jason David Frank had confirmed he wouldn’t reprise Tommy in the special, and Austin St. John, who played Jason, also declined to appear. Once & Always will also feature Charlie Kersh as Minh, the daughter of Trini, the first Yellow Ranger. Trini was played by Thuy Trang, who died in 2001.
Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Once & Always hits Netflix on April 19, which is also where you can stream the entirety of the original series. This year will also see the release of Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, which is continuing the narrative arc began by Dino Fury.