When celebrations for Power Rangers‘ 30th anniversary wrapped up a few years ago with the release of Once and Always and the conclusion of Cosmic Fury, the franchise’s future was left in doubt. Rumored reboots stalled, Hasbro picked apart the series’ legacy at auction and through AI-enhanced MMPR rereleases—even with the news that Disney would once again become the home of a new era of Power Rangers earlier this year, right now the series’ live-action form has felt dormant. That is, until today, in a very peculiar way.
This morning Epic Games unveiled the next season of Fortnite, “Shock ‘N Awesome”, which is set to come to the battle royale shooter at the end of this week. Bringing a Starship Troopers-esque insectoid invasion to the game’s island setting, it seems like players are going to have to contend with more than just each other whenever they drop from the battle bus… but they won’t be alone. Well, for a price.
The first major collaboration confirmed for the new season today is with Power Rangers, which will bring the Mighty Morphin’ team (who else would it be?) to the game. And do so in style, as Epic confirmed the crossover in the only way it could: a ’90s-nostalgia-bomb live-action trailer that sees the Red, Yellow, and Blue Rangers team up with some familiar Fortnite faces to battle some bugs.
The trailer itself is great, but it is kind of ludicrous that the first official live-action Power Rangers material we’ve seen since 2023 at this point is for a Fortnite ad. A small price to pay to watch Jason (or Rocky!) spin a minigun around blasting giant bugs with pyrotechnic effects while a remix of the Mighty Morphin‘ theme blares in the background, I suppose.
A presumably less-small price is what you’ll be paying to play as the Power Rangers in Fortnite. They won’t immediately drop in-game when “Shock N’ Awesome” releases this week (although it appears that Tommy Oliver as the Green Ranger will be part of the season’s battle pass, at least), but they will be available in the Fortnite store from mid-August, according to Epic, as a skin bundle of all five primary Rangers, as well as extra accessories, including a music track for the new theme remix that can be used in Fortnite Festival and other areas of the game.
They’re not the only Power Rangers additions to the new season, however. Owners of the new seasonal battle pass will be able to do quests to unlock a Dino Megazord skin from September 16, tying into a midseason event that will let players “power up” as the Megazord—presumably similar to how the game’s recent collaboration with Godzilla played out, letting players stomp around the island.
Fortnite‘s new season will launch August 7.
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