Warning: Spoilers for Power Rangers Prime #7!The monsters ofPower Rangersare becoming three-dimensional. Dating back to the original monsters of the week, created byRita Repulsa’s evil scientist Finster,Mighty Morphinportrayed these beasts as mindless creatures who served one purpose: to be an obstacle for the Rangers to defeat. Until now, the writing wouldn’t allow monsters to be more than that.
Now,the mutants ofPower Rangers Prime#7 have radically changed how monsters are portrayed in the franchise. Mutants in thePrimeuniverse are a poor, ignored, and mostly civilized society of people who have been mistreated by a far more evil force than any monster in this world: the villainous dictatorship formed byZordon’s species from Eltar.
The mutants ofPower Rangers Prime#7 are humanizedin ways never before seen in the franchise, and are practically reminiscent of theMorlocks from Marvel’s X-Men.
Power Rangers' Monsters Become Sympathetic Mutants in Major Lore Change-Up
Power Rangers Prime#7 by Melissa Flores and Michael Yg
Following a battle with the VR Troopers, the remaining Power Rangers, who haven’t either quit or been kidnapped, flee underground beneath Angel Grove. Underground, they find a group of mutants. Initially, as is usually the case, whenever the Rangers come face-to-face with monsters, a fight ensues; however, this is a rare instance where the monsters are justified in fighting the Power Rangers. AsRita Repulsa’s new sidekick Bulkexplains, the mutants live underground, and the Power Rangers are invading their home.These monsters are a disenfranchised community that’s forced underground thanks to the Eltarian governmentmistreating and ultimately forgetting them.
The Earth is now a conquered Eltarian colony. Non-registered citizens naturally slip through the cracks. Mutants, unfortunately, fit the bill in this world. As a result, the mutants are forced to fend for themselves, often resorting to fighting or stealing to obtain resources.It’s no wonder they hate both the Eltarian government and their VR Trooper soldiers.Ergo, when the mutants realize they’re fighting Power Rangers, they are more than happy to let bygones be bygones with someone else opposing the government.
The New Monsters ofPower RangersMirror the X-Men’s Morlocks
Morlocks Were Another Set of Supposed Monsters Who Were Treated Inhumanely
The mutants explain further that if they venture above the surface (or “topside”), they are immediately captured or worse by the VR Troopers, regardless of whether the mutant is part of the virtual registration system or not. The children find themselves caught in the crossfire often, and so the mutants offer shelter (which they call The Belly) to them as well.The mistreatment that mutants face from outsiders for being and looking different is reminiscent of that witnessed in theX-Menfranchise,specifically when it comes to the Morlocks.
The Morlocks are a different subset ofvisually distinct mutant outcasts in the Marvel Universewho, unlike the average mutant, can’t blend into society. Because they more easily stick out as mutants, they suffer more overt levels of mistreatment from a society that hates mutants, hence why they’re forced underground.Power Rangers’mutants may be directly referencing those ofX-Men, hence sharing the mutant namesake. If the shared name is no coincidence, then the mutants are meant to directly mirror the Morlocks, telling a story of sophisticated, civilized people being portrayed as monsters by an agenda from higher-ups.
The Government Is the Power Rangers' Biggest Enemy
30 years ago, monsters onPower Rangerswere as straightforward as they come, and even 30 years later in follow-up season iterations, most monsters remain one-dimensional creatures with few exceptions. With no personality beyond a desire to destroy the Rangers, it became easy for audiences to sympathize with the heroes. However, nowthe monsters are no longer portrayedas villains.That honor goes to the Eltarian government.Primehas made a greater effort to reveal more layers to monsters,even those created by Rita Repulsa.
The first monster that Rita creates in thePrimeseries is one that turns on her because she openly disrespects it. These aren’t the same monsters of old, and the mutants' introduction emphasizes that. They have feelings and humane motivations, while the Eltarian government is portrayed as a force of evil with no redeemable qualities, much like the monsters of the 90s were written. Now, the tables have turned, and thePower Rangersnarrative has shifted into something more anti-establishment and pro-monster.
