The most popular Green Ranger fancast for a potential Power Rangers reboot would recreate one of the reasons why Tommy Oliver was such a great character. Played by the late Jason David Frank, Tommy first appeared in Mighty Morphin season 1, episode 17, “Green With Evil: Part I.” Originally intended to appear in just a few Power Rangers episodes, the Green Ranger became a fan-favorite and would continue to be part of the show for decades to come. Super Ninja Steel’s “Dimensions in Danger” from 2017 marked Frank’s final Power Rangers episode.
Power Rangers would likely never recast Tommy for the current continuity. Still, a potential reboot series set in a different universe would have the chance to tell new stories featuring the beloved Mighty Morphin characters. BOOM! Studios Power Rangers comics and even the failed 2017 Power Rangers movie reboot prove that there is room for more stories based on Mighty Morphin, especially now that the franchise seems to be steering away from Super Sentai adaptations. Should Power Rangers ever revisit Mighty Morphin with a reboot, the perfect Green Ranger fancasting already exists.
Tanner Buchanan as Green Ranger Tommy Oliver is a very popular and even obvious fancast, which does not mean is not a good one. Much of it comes from Buchanan’s performance as Cobra Kai’s Robby Keene, a character who shares a lot of traits with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ Tommy Oliver. As Robby, Buchanan got to play a misfit who ended up joining the villains and later went through a redemption arc, which also describes Tommy’s story in MMPR season 1. Robby never fit into either dojos, going from Miyagi-Do to Cobra Kai to giving up karate.
Similarly, it took a while for Tommy to find his place among the Power Rangers. When it comes to fighting skills, Tommy was among the best fighters in the original Power Rangers series, both from an in-universe perspective and a behind-the-scenes perspective. The late Jason David Frank, whose performance as Tommy Oliver shaped the Power Rangers franchise in the 1990s, was already a martial arts expert when he joined the show and brought a lot to the character in terms of physicality. Tommy’s civilian fights were a highlight of the show, and so were Robby’s fights in Cobra Kai.
Even the scenes in which Robby Keene was wearing green in Cobra Kai helped fuel the fancast of Tanner Buchanan as Tommy. It must be noted that there is no live-action Power Rangers project featuring Tommy Oliver officially in the works, meaning all fancasts for a new Green Ranger are simply based on a wish to see a new version of the character in a potential reboot. …-credits scene for Power Rangers (2017) did tease Tommy Oliver would arrive in the sequel, yet the film bombed at the box office and never got one.
Speaking to The Wrap in 2019, Tanner Buchanan revealed he trained taekwondo when he was younger and got “a couple of belts away from black.” Shortly before he got cast as Robby Keene in Cobra Kai, Buchanan practiced Muay Thai for eight months while shooting Designated Survivor, where he played Leo. Considering his martial arts background and the six seasons of Cobra Kai he has been in, it is safe to say Buchanan would be more than prepared to bring a character like Tommy Oliver to life. Part of what made the Green Ranger so cool was Tommy’s unmorphed fights.
Being a martial artist is also part of Tommy Oliver’s character. The original Green Ranger first bonded with the rest of the team thanks to a martial arts competition in which Tommy fought Jason. Tommy and Jason would sometimes teach kids karate together in the Angel Grove Youth Center, a tradition that would be carried onto Zeo with Tommy, Adam, and Rocky. Although casting someone from a Karate Kid-related show in Power Rangers could come off as too obvious or uninspired, having actors who can do some of their own stunts would add a lot to a potential reboot.
Whether there will ever be a new Power Rangers show or movie featuring Tommy Oliver following Jason David Frank’s passing is difficult to say. However, if a Power Rangers reboot based on the original series happens either for the big screen or for the TV show, it would have to include the Green Ranger eventually. Mighty Morphin is still the most iconic Power Rangers season and will forever be associated with the franchise – and the Green Ranger is an essential part of it. Still, recasting Tommy for a potential reboot would be very difficult.
Apart from the 2017 movie, Power Rangers never recast its original characters. Jason, Trini, Zack, Billy, Kimberly, and Tommy were always played by the same actors in every movie or show they appeared in. Instead of recasting, Power Rangers would introduce new characters whenever someone had to be replaced. For example, Rocky, Aisha, and Adam became the new Red, Yellow, and Black Rangers in MMPR season 2. This is why Power Rangers could benefit from having a reboot set in a new continuity, similar to what Power Rangers (2017) did, allowing it to introduce new versions of classic characters.
Regardless of what the next Power Rangers show will be, it can be argued that the show does not need more of Tommy Oliver after multiple shows and movies centered on the character. Tommy was the leader of the Power Rangers for three years in a row, going from MMPR season 1 to the first half of Turbo. He was also front and center in the two 1990s Power Rangers movies – as the White Ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and as the Red Ranger in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie.
Tommy led another team years later in Dino Thunder and appeared in multiple crossover episodes. Still, based on how popular Mighty Morphin and the original Green Ranger continue to be, there are still Tommy Oliver stories left to be told. For example, a new Power Rangers show based on the BOOM! Studios comics could bring Tommy’s Lord Drakkon to live-action for the first time, leading to an adaptation of the instant classic Shattered Grid event. Drakkon’s popularity is just one example of how Power Rangers could still use Tommy, ideally in a reboot that doesn’t affect anything that came before it.
Stream Cobra Kai on Netflix