Analyzing The End Of The Power Rangers Movie – Rita’s Fate, Post Credits, Sequels & A Female Green Ranger?

*Spoilers Ahead so if you haven’t seen the film yet, check out our Spoiler Free Review*

If you know anything about the original Power Rangers, you saw that Post Credits scene coming a mile away and don’t need anyone to “explain what it means to you”. Though it’s not so much what was in that scene as what was NOT in that scene. We all know Tommy/ The Green Ranger is coming, but with the Power Rangers series planning up to 6 additional sequels all within the same story arc, the Green Ranger arc might be a little longer – and a little different – than we think.

I’ll explore the rest of those sequels in a future post, but for now let’s look at the fate of Rita and the direct omission of Tommy to see what’s ACTUALLY in store for the sequel beyond just “Green Ranger is coming”.

What Happened To Rita At The End? – Dead Or Alive:

When we last saw Rita, she was being slapped into outer space – seriously, my favorite villain end ever! Though is she dead? Sure we see her drifting into space and freezing over in the cold vacuum of space; but considering she survived an asteroid and 65 million years at the bottom of the sea, it’s safe to assume she’ll be back. And judging by her trajectory, she’ll have landed on the moon (at least we can hope). Though it’s also unknown where her power coin is. Did it fly off with her or get knocked off mid slap? And THAT is where the Tommy plot theories for Power Rangers 2 diverge.

• Option #1 – Rita Chooses Her Successor:

If Rita is still alive, she’s going to have a little problem being trapped on the moon. A way around this could be to – like Zordon – chose her successor. By sending her Power Coin to Earth, she could corrupt and control a new Green Ranger as her envoy in her absence.

• Option #2 – Tommy Discovers The Green Power Coin By Accident:

If Rita is indeed dead and her coin remained on Earth, Tommy could find it and become overwhelmed with its power. Maybe Rita’s evil is still in the coin as some sort of ‘protection’ or maybe Tommy is corrupted by the power alone. After all, Tommy wouldn’t have a role model/ friends like Zordon, Alpha and the other Rangers. Perhaps Tommy is the most troubled youth of them all. Though whichever path the film takes, it’s sure to be at least a two-movie arc considering we HAVEN’T met Tommy yet.

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— POWER⚡️RANGERS (@PowerRangers) March 23, 2017

Why Didn’t We See Tommy? – Casting & Prolonged Character Arc To Come:

By keeping Tommy from actually appearing in the Post Credits, it of course means that they haven’t cast the role yet. Though beyond that, this also means Tommy will have to be fully introduced as a character – while keeping us involved with our current Rangers stories. We’ll have to see Tommy go evil and cause the Rangers drama both morphed and unmorphed as well as find a way to reveal the Dragonzord which Rita never seemed to have. This is all a LOT to cover and with Saban saying this is a 6 film arc at the moment, chances are this film will end AT BEST with Tommy being defeated and them all not teaming up until the third film. Then again, the sequel could end with Tommy having trashed the Ranger’s and succeeding in bringing Rita back.

Where the series can go from here, I’ll explore more in my next article where I look at the full 6 story arc. Though there’s another reason Tommy not being revealed in the end is a big move. As I said, it means the character wasn’t cast yet; but what if Tommy in this universe was also a girl? In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, Red Ranger Dacre Montgomery said,

“A lot of the cast and I have discussed that we think it should be a girl. It makes it even: three girls, three boys.”

Would it be a big change? Of course, but having Rita be the original Green Ranger was a big twist too. If Rita is picking a successor, having another female take her place just makes sense! And keeping it an even roster of boys and girls could be fun. There was always a competition between the Red and Green Ranger. If Green Ranger was cast as female, perhaps this would be the Ranger couple. Then again, with Yellow Ranger being LGBTQ, perhaps it’ll be Tommy and Trini instead of Tommy and Kimberly. After all, it looked like there was a bit of a spark between Red and Pink this time around, so it could all fit.

Though what do you think? Do you think Rita will choose Tommy or will Tommy stumble upon the coin his/herself? Should Tommy be a girl this time around? And how many films should be devoted to the Green Ranger and trying to turn them to the light? Sound off in the comments below!