The Drakkon Storyline Was So Popular It Almost Became A Power Rangers TV Series

Power Rangers writer Kyle Higgins shared how the tale of Lord Drakkon almost became its own spin-off series.

Recently, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers writer Kyle Higgins shared a peek inside what would have become a live-action Drakkon series.

The Power Rangers have had many seasons of live action fights and adventures, with new seasons continuing to be released such as Beast Morphers and next year’s Dino Fury. The franchise has also seen success in the comics industry, thanks to BOOM! Studios’ high-quality release.

In all of that madness, there is one character that has not only turned heads in the past but even became such a sensation that he almost landed his own spin-off show.

The Tragic Tale Of Lord Drakkon

That character is Lord Drakkon, a Tommy Oliver that did not refuse the song of evil and worked to become the most powerful Ranger in all the universes. Jason David Frank, who has played the legendary character for many years, was close to portraying Drakkon in a live-action version.

When talking to Newsarama, Kyle Higgins spoke about the potential idea and had this to say about it:

“The only big regret I have [with my Power Rangers work], and it was totally out of my control, was that we came close to putting together a live action prestige series that I also would have directed, which would have been set in the Coinless timeline.”

The proposed series would have followed the Rangers who had fought and unfortunately lost their power coins to Drakkon and had to find new ways and prepared to fight without their abilities. Drakkon teamed up with Rita Repulsa to conquer the Earth and destroy many Power Rangers, which would be an interesting scenario to play out. The Rangers would be forced to see Tommy not join their side and hit back against them.

The remaining rangers had to find those who did not agree with Drakkon and create a squad against him called the Coinless. This group had members from the series such as Zach, Trini, and future Rangers like Rocky, Adam, Aisha and even the bullies Bulk and Skull.

The series was moved into being developed after a promo film that starred Jason David Frank as Lord Drakkon was released in preparation for the 2018 comic event, “Shattered Grid”. This was not Higgins first go-round when it came to filming, as he was a triple threat (Director/Writer/Producer) on many short films and a voice director and writer on console game likes Power Rangers: Battle for the grid.

Here is more of what he had to say about the project:

“[The live-action show project] all came about as a result of the promo film I did with Jason David Frank on ‘Shattered Grid,’ which demonstrated to Saban that we could make something longer and meatier, with high production value, if they were game.
Which, considering their investment and excitement about Drakkon, Shattered Grid and the Coinless, they definitely were. “My thinking was that – not to say we would have been able to get every actor we wanted back – but every actor was the right age for where their characters would be in the Coinless timeline, and we had a business model that could have been really attractive to the people we were thinking about.”

It looked like Saban Brands, who had bought the rights of the franchise back from Disney in 2011, was prepared to follow up on the promo movie and would have given a big bump in production value. There were no details on if the series would have taken a spot from the Ranger shows on the air or if it would have been aired on a separate channel or service.

Higgins knew that if the series would have been a fight to get some of the former Ranger actors back and knew not everyone would have said yes (Look at what happened when Saban attempted to get actors for Power Rangers Super Megaforce). The project was derailed when the franchise was sold to Hasbro in 2018, unfortunately. Here what Higgins said about the loss:

“Unfortunately though, with Hasbro buying the brand, the project was shut down,” Higgins said. “Before that though, we definitely had some pretty serious conversations about financing models and distribution partners. But yeah. Ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be.”

It looks like Hasbro was not the saving grace this show was looking for, but things are not always done forever. With the news of HBO Max making the Snyder Cut of Justice League in 2021, there is always a chance a revival of the series-to-be can happen. Perhaps this series would be the lightning rod the Power Rangers franchise could use in the upcoming future.

Do you like the idea of a live-action Drakkon series? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure you keep your power coins handy and follow The Illuminerdi for more Power Rangers news and features.

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