Disney+ Power Rangers’ Live-Action Series Not Moving Forward

Disney+ is no longer moving forward with its planned live-action Power Rangers reboot series. The highly anticipated project, which was being developed in partnership with 20th Television, will not advance beyond the early script-development stage.

The live-action reboot was originally set up at Disney+ roughly a year and a half ago, but the streamer has since pulled the plug on the project for business and budgetary reasons. The Power Rangers franchise is wholly owned by Hasbro, and production sources say Disney determined that mounting a high-end superhero series at a significant cost would be difficult to justify without owning the underlying intellectual property.

Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz, the showrunners behind Disney+’s hit series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, were attached to write and executive produce the project. With the Power Rangers deal no longer moving forward, the duo will remain focused on completing Percy Jackson season three as well as other projects within Disney.

The decision marks the second major streaming setback for Hasbro’s flagship superhero franchise. Before the Disney+ iteration, a separate live-action reboot spent several years in development at Netflix before ultimately being scrapped.

The Disney+ cancellation, however, does not necessarily spell the end of the reboot. Hasbro Entertainment remains committed to reinventing Power Rangers and is expected to pursue a new creative direction, with the project potentially being taken to other streaming platforms or traditional networks.