It’s been 30 years since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers premiered, but Amy Jo Johnson, who played the original Pink Ranger, isn’t quite done with the franchise.
After raising $250,000 in less than 24 hours via a Kickstarter campaign for the “Power Rangers: A 30th Anniversary Comic CelebrationJohnson will write a brand new Power Rangers comic book series with publisher Boom Studios, diversity can report exclusively.
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When the series debuted the next year, Johnson worked with her partner and director Matt Hotson to co-write it. She recalls coming up with the idea before the 2020 pandemic. “I daydream about it and mentioned it to my friend Matt. He said, ‘Why don’t you try to make it a comic book?'” Johnson says diversity. “We had all the time, so we came up with this whole comic book series because we knew the 30th anniversary was coming up.”
The new comic series is something Johnson has been excited about for quite some time. “It was so hard to sit on it and not talk about it for a year — actually three,” says Johnson. And she promises that the new series will be “different” from the original “in the sense that it’s my version.”
For inspiration, she went back and watched the original episodes — for the first time. “To be honest, I had never watched [‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’]’ says Johnson.
After leaving the series in 1995, Johnson says she “just moved on” from “Power Rangers” and had no idea of the fan outrage that ensued. “I didn’t even know it was them [upset]. There was no internet, there was no social media.”
She says working on the set of Power Rangers had its flaws. The series was non-union, and it earned approximately $700 per episode. Disregarding unions and the benefits she might have received, Johnson admits she was “just excited to be an actress. I was getting paid more than ever for a job a week.” She adds, “I’ve matured, I’ve gotten older and I’ve found what’s safe and normal.”
After Power Rangers, she starred in Susie Q, Perfect Body, Felicity, and Flashpoint. For the past 10 years, she has turned her attention behind the camera, writing and directing four short films and two features, making her directorial debut on the CW’s “Superman and Lois.”
One production she didn’t take part in, however, was Netflix’s forthcoming “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always“Reunion Movie. When Johnson’s original “Power Rangers” co-stars Walter Emanuel Jones and David Yost joined the cast, fans speculated as to why she wasn’t part of the film. Johnson went to twitter to address these claims, revealing that her decision had nothing to do with money.
Speak with Diversity, Johnson reveals: “There were a number of different factors that came into play. One of them [being] I was working on other projects and I also have a 14 year old… I quit acting and focused on writing [and] Directed almost 10 years ago. I can give you a list of excuses.”
She adds: “It just didn’t cross my mind [to join the reunion] because I was so focused on this comic book and telling this story.”
While Johnson may not have said yes to the Power Rangers reunion movie, it’s clear the franchise still holds a special place in her heart. Jason David Frank was one of Johnson’s original co-stars and a dear friend who died in November 2022. “JDF was like a family,” she says. “The whole franchise will always be very special to me. I can’t wait to see it.”
For now, she’s reveling in the excitement that her fans will experience her new comic book series. “This is my thank you, this is my love letter to the fans,” she says. “It’s just been amazing to have these kids, who are adults now, supporting me through all of this [my career] changes.
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