Power Rangers SPD has been given more depth over the years thanks to both the comics created by Boom! Studios and HyperRPG’s Power Rangers Hyperforce, the Table-top Role-playing game (TTRPG). The new material from these sources has given us a better insight into the workings of Space Patrol Delta and even given us new rangers, including Lina Song, originally played by Malika Lim Eubank, and J.J. Oliver, Tommy Oliver’s son. However, Jason Bischoff recently tweeted another concept that would have made an excellent addition to the Power Ranger universe.
All art featured was commissioned by @stratosmacca on Twitter.
A new squad of rangers, known as the SPD Fire squad, which consists of three members. An upgraded SPD red ranger, the Deka Ranger (First seen in the Soul of the Dragon comic), and a new Black variation of the red ranger named Ranger Prime.
With the Boom! Studios comic, Power Rangers: Soul of the Dragon, we not only saw the inheritance of Power from Tommy Oliver to his son, but we also saw a bit more of the SPD rangers and what happened to them after the events of B-Squad facing against Emperor Grumm.
RELATED: POWER RANGERS REVEALS TIME FORCE BLACK RANGER AND MORE AT COMIC-CON AT HOME PANEL
Usually, once the main villain of a season is defeated, most rangers would either put their powers to rest or give them up completely, however, the SPD rangers are unique. This is because their powers are always in use due to being a special form of police and would be transferred rather than retired. This was seen in both the SPD Hyperforce episodes and the Soul of the Dragon comic.
Bischoff’s Concept Brings Us A Brand-New SPD Ranger
The new ranger, Ranger Prime, (named by friend of The Illuminerdi Eric Berry) is in fact Jack Landors, who makes a return after passing down his mantle of red ranger to Sky when the Troobian Empire was defeated. Ranger Prime has the same design as the Red SPD ranger and still has red throughout the suit, but is dominantly Black with a red visor.
This ranger was designed as a Special Operations covert agent, which with Jack’s ability, to pass through solid objects, is a brilliant combination. As mentioned by Bischoff, he is living in harmony between two worlds, which suggests he still helps people as a civilian on the streets like when he first decided to leave SPD. It is not mentioned if Ranger Prime has any different powers or weapons to when he was the Red ranger so fingers crossed that one day we will find out.
More Information Regarding the Deka Ranger
The post also reveals greater plans for the Deka Ranger as extra information was mentioned involving abilities that have yet to debut. Deka Ranger first appeared in the Soul of the Dragon comics with a brand new red-based Ranger, with design similarities to Shadow Ranger. This new ranger was revealed to be Sky Tate, who got the powers when he took over as the new chief commander when Anubis “Doggie” Cruger was promoted.
Sky now oversees the Earth Branch of SPD and Bischoff revealed that Deka ranger’s powers allow him to ‘Spectrum shift’, meaning his suit can change between red and blue. This ability to change the suit between being red or blue also comes with color-dependent abilities, however, it is not revealed what new abilities each form has. Hopefully, we will be able to find out if the Deka Ranger returns and they revisit the concept.
SPD Fire Squad Concept Reveals Tragic Backstory for Bridge
The last ranger is the current SPD Red Ranger with a new upgraded look that many will recognize from the Japanese Dekaranger: 10 years after Movie. This is the current Red Ranger, Bridge Carson, who went from Green to Blue, and now red as he climbed the ranks. The ranger announcement doesn’t mention Bridge having any different abilities than the Sentai version in the movie, but what is fascinating is the tragic backstory and extra addition to the American version.
Bridge was engaged to S.O.P.H.I.E, who was a cyborg cadet that first appeared in the 14th and 15th episode of SPD. S.O.P.H.I.E’s body was destroyed during a case and was lucky to survive digitally and now is within Bridge’s new Morpher. What a twist in the event and there is a heart pulling description by Bischoff as he describes the situation as “Bridge is liberally wearing ‘his heart on his sleeve’. We can only guess what benefits Sophie grants while being part of the ranger hardware, however, as the saying goes “Two minds are better than one”.
RELATED: HASBRO PULSE CON REVEALS NEW POWER RANGERS GOODIES FOR FANS
The rangers are not the only additions as these rangers also get a Fire Squad Morpher. This is the same Morpher than is seen by the Japanese counterpart, except for the Deka ranger, Sky. He has a variation of the Morpher, which is having the lights on the top of the Morpher being Red and blue, instead of just red, to match his ‘Spectrum shift’ ability.
Now we know there were more concepts previously planned, we can see how much more can be added to both SPD and maybe even other seasons. With this concept material being revealed by Bischoff, hopefully, we will see these rangers and their story told one day.
For more information regarding the SPD Fire Squad concept check out our friends at Ranger Command Power Hour as they were able to sit down with Bischoff and talk about the concept in more detail.
What do you guys think about the idea of the SPD Fire Squad? Would you like to have seen this come to fruition in a potential SPD Graphic Novel? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to come back to The Illuminerdi for more Power Rangers news and updates like this in the future!
KEEP READING: HASBRO OFFICIALLY CONFIRMS RED, BLUE, AND PINK RANGER ACTORS FOR POWER RANGERS DINO FURY
