Things to Hope For in MMPR: The Return

The first issue of Amy Jo Johnson’s MMPR: The Return started with a bang, but where does it go from here? Join Scott as he shares some of his hopes and desires for the story going forward!

The inaugural MMPR: The Return dropped back on February 7th. Hopefully you have all had a chance to read it, or our review of the issue. Issue #2 drops this month, on March 13th, and continues Amy Jo Johnson’s take on a 30th anniversary story centring around an aged Mighty Morphin team. Issue #1 planted the seeds for many story threads I hope to see expand in the following issues, but for today I’m going to be posting my personal hopes (and some fears) for the story going forward.

RELATED: Review: Amy Jo Johnson’s MMPR: The Return #1 Provides Nostalgic Yet Alternative 30th Anniversary Take

For those that need a reminder…

In an alternate universe, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers defeated Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd, but at a terrible cost … and in the wake of that tragedy, the team went their separate ways. Twenty-two years later, the long-disbanded team reunites to mourn the losses of beloved friends, but Zack and Billy have some unexpected information to share: Jason — the Red Ranger, who has long been operating as a lone vigilante — has disappeared,” it continues. “Will the remaining Rangers be able to track him down, especially with a mysterious figure in pursuit?

WARNING: There will be story spoilers ahead! Read at your own risk!

With that said, lets dive straight in…

1. Once and Always 2.0

2023’s Netflix special “Power Rangers: Once and Always” was a fun 30th anniversary adventure, reuniting a lot of the MMPR rangers to take on a new variant of Rita Repulsa, taking fans back to their Saturday mornings back in the 90’s. There was, especially, a good amount of focus on Zack and Billy as they try to keep Trini’s daughter Minh safe and restore the balance of power in Angel Grove once more.

Amy Jo was absent from the special, choosing not to participate. Instead, pursuing MMPR: The Return as her take on a 30th anniversary reunion. Issue #1 was an enjoyable start, but elements of the story felt eerily similar to Hasbro & Netflix’s “Once and Always” such as the focus on Billy and Zack (now with the addition of Kimberly) and the cliffhanger ending of Trini’s cousin entering the scene wanting to take up her mantle (more on that later). While Minh was Trini’s daughter in the aforementioned special, Serena being Trini’s cousin adds a family tie that can come off as a bit uninspired. I hope as the issues progress, we see less similarities to Once and Always but, with both stories being a 30 year reunion, it’s bound to happen to some degree.

RELATED: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always Review

2. Serena as the Yellow Ranger

As mentioned above, issue #1 ends with Serena finding Kim, demanding her to help her become the new Yellow Ranger; a story thread that, at a distant glance, seems to be leaning hard on “Once and Always” but has the potential to be done different, perhaps better.

Minh was an enjoyable addition to the universe and props to Charlie Kersh for making her a believable teen character who learns what it really takes to be a ranger. One could argue her character arc was somewhat rushed during the special, giving her little room to breath, but with just under an hour runtime there’s only so much development they can show while maintaining equal focus on the other characters.

MMPR: The Return is a four issue story. With issue #1 done and dusted, that doesn’t leave much room to develop new character Serena while balancing the plot thread involving Jason (more on that later), as well as Kim’s story and the new green ranger (more on that later). For now, I’ll remain distantly hopeful that Serena will get enough focus and be an enjoyable addition to the BOOM! universe.

RELATED: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always Full Review, Thoughts and Opinions

3. The Mysterious Stranger

As previously stated, the first issue opens up with Jason being pursued by a mysterious stranger, crashing into the Command Center as he fends off an evil silhouetted figure. The mysterious stranger steals Jason’s power coin, proclaiming “…I am the future“. It’s extremely vague and leaves a lot to the imagination on the identity of the mysterious stranger.

It’s obvious the identity of this character ties into the Rangers and, on some level, that worries me; there’s an opportunity here to make the reveal of this villain interesting but my main fear is that the reveal will end up being Tommy Oliver, who is allegedly dead in this story. We see a gravestone but, you know what they say, no one is truly dead in the world of comics… except for Uncle Ben.

But, ask yourself, in the 30 years of PR history between the show and the comics, how many times has Tommy been evil? This is a direction I hope Amy Jo and Matt Hotson avoid going down as it would come across as lazy and uninspired. We don’t need another evil iteration of Tommy. What if it was Trini? The new Green Ranger? I’d be personally open for anything that isn’t Tommy but perhaps it’ll be a much deeper cut. Only time will tell.

4. The New Green Ranger

With all the story threads planted in issue #1, we haven’t even gotten into another plot thread: the new Green Ranger. Revealed back in November 2023, new character Olivia Hart will be making her debut in MMPR: The Return as the daughter of both Kimberly Hart (now going by the name Emma Phillips) and Tommy Oliver. Her backstory and methods for obtaining the mantle of the green ranger are still shrouded in mystery and is one of the more interesting plot threads being dangled in front of fans.

The artwork above by Dan Mora teasing her appearance in the story certainly has dark reflections upon first glance. Is she the villain? Is she the mysterious stranger pursuing Jason? Is she angry at her mother for adopting a new name, potentially leaving her behind? Her existence certainly leaves it up to our imaginations to theorise for now. Perhaps issue #2 will give us some insight.

I hope to see her introduction and existence in the story handled carefully. The Green Ranger is a fan favourite and, if handled poorly, may result in some intense backlash. I personally have faith in Amy Jo Johnson, having been close to Jason David Frank all her life, I’m positive she’ll transition the mantle of Green Ranger towards Olivia with care and grace.

RELATED: Why You Should Be Reading Boom! Studios’ Power Rangers Comics in 2024

5. Cameos

This one more or less goes without saying but god damn it, I’m going to say it any way! I hope to see more cameos!!!

Issue #1 gives us a very brief look at a couple of familiar faces in the second scene of the story; we get to see an aged Ernie, still sporting his awesome Hawaiian shirts as well as Bulk & Skull looking like they barely aged from their high school years. They’re enough to put a smile on the face of any fan who grew up watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but whether we see more of these characters is anyone’s guess. Whether the cameos have purpose or are simply gratuitous, I’ll be here for them. I’d love to see cameos from other characters seen during MMPR’s TV run. Perhaps Harvey Garvey? Lieutenant Stone? The Stone Valley trio? Kat? Perhaps even Rangers from later seasons, assuming other Ranger teams were formed in this new separate universe!?

Either way, I’m looking forward to finding more and seeing what more eagle eyed fans find within the coloured pages of future issues.

MMPR: The Return #2 releases March 13th, 2024 at your local comic book store. This and more Power Rangers Boom! Studios series are also available as a digital copy from content providers like iBooks, Google Play, and Kindle. 

What did you think of Part 1? Any predictions or theories on upcoming issues? Let us knows in the comments below! We look forward to seeing them. Stay tuned for more news and reviews of MMPR: The Return and more here at The Toku Source!