Disney+ Abandons ‘Power Rangers’ Reboot Plans

Alas, it is not morphin’ time.

A planned Power Rangers reboot that was in the works at Disney+ is not moving forward after all, reports Deadline.

This latest attempt to update the long-running kids action and superhero series was being written and produced by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz, veterans of the popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians streaming show. Deadline says their Power Rangers was “set up for development at the Disney streamer about a year and a half ago with sibling 20th Television as the studio. It will not be going past the development stage.”

The stated reason “business” and “budget” because “mounting a high-end, live-action superhero series of the caliber of Power Rangers is a major investment, the economics of which are not as favorable when the streamer and/or the producing studio do not own the IP, which is the case here.”

Power Rangers is currently owned by the toy company Hasbro, hence the never-ending array of action figures inspired by the group first introduced on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series in 1993.

READ MORE: Failed Power Rangers Reboot Would Have Included Four Movies

Since then the Power Rangers has proven to be a surprisingly durable franchise, going through countless seasons and variations. Casts come and go, team names come and go (Did Power Rangers: Super Ninja Steel come before or after Power Rangers: Dino Charge? I forget.) but the basic premise endures.

Although nostalgia for the original series remains high — Netflix brought back several original cast members for a 30th anniversary special, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, in 2023 — attempts to fully update or modernize the franchise have been tricky. In 2017, Lionsgate released a big-budget Power Rangers film reboot, but the project only scored middling returns at the box office and plans to turn it into an ongoing film series never materialized.

Rumors of other reboots or revivals have come and gone in the years since then, but nothing has gotten past the development stage — and that now includes this Disney+ version as well.