WhenPower Rangers: Battle for the Gridfirst launched a couple of years ago, it did so with a relatively small roster of playable characters. Since the game’s launch, developer nWay has nearly doubledPower Rangers: Battle for the Grid’s roster, adding all kinds ofPower Rangersvillainsand heroes to the lineup. More recently, nWay added two guest fighters to the game, the first inPower Rangers: Battle for the Gridhistory.
The latest DLC characters forPower Rangers: Battle for the Gridare none other thanStreet Fighter’s Chun-Li and Ryu, who have received aPower Rangers-style makeover for their appearance. This would seemingly open up the possibility for other guest characters to appear inPower Rangers: Battle for the Grid, but it’s possible that developer nWay is getting ready to move on to other preojcts instead.
RELATED:Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid Adding New Jungle Fury Ranger
APower Rangers: Battle for the Grid-Super Editiongame was confirmednot long after theStreet Fightercrossover DLC. TheSuper EditionofPower Rangers: Battle for the Gridwill include the base game in addition to all of the previously-released character DLC and some bonus costumes. This could very well mean that nWay is done with releasing newPower Rangers: Battle for the GridDLC, but if not, here are some guest fighters that would likely be well-received by fans.
Ivan Ooze
TheMighty Morphin' Power Rangersmovie from the 90s was critically-panned at the time of its release, but it still holds a special place in the heart’s of many who grew up with the franchise. The non-canon movie was basically a big budget version of the TV show, with a brand new villain in the form of the evil Ivan Ooze. Ivan Ooze has appeared inPower Rangersvideo games in the past, but since the movie is non-canon, he been seen for decades at this point.
Perhaps the main reason why Ivan Ooze hasn’t appeared in recentPower Rangersmedia is due to licensing issues. The rights to the 1995Mighty Morphin' Power Rangersmovie was owned by Fox, who has since been bought out by Disney.Hasbro owns the rights to thePower Rangersfranchisein a general sense, but it does not have rights to original characters from the movie, which would include Ivan Ooze.
If some kind of deal could be reached with Disney, it would be great to see Ivan Ooze reincorporated into thePower Rangerscanon universe, and it could all start with an appearance in theBattle for the Gridvideo game.
Jason David Frank
Jason David Frank is possibly the most well-knownPower Rangersactor (not counting Bryan Cranston, who voiced some of the monsters, of course). Jason David Frank’s character Tommy Oliver has remained hugely popular with thePower Rangersfandom, and is represented on thePower Rangers: Battle for the Gridrosterin multiple capacities. However, it may be worth including Jason David Frank himself in the lineup.
Jason David Frank may be best known for his appearances in the variousPower RangersTV shows and movies as Tommy Oliver, but he is also a legitimate fighter. In fact, Jason David Frank is undefeated in Mixed-Martial Arts. He hasn’t had a professional fight since 2010, but Frank has attempted to set up some high profile fights, including a bout withWWE-turned-MMA fighter CM Punk. That particular fight never came to pass, but there’s no reason Frank can’t mix it up withPower Rangerscharacters in theBattle for the Gridvideo game.
Justice League
This may seem like an out of the blue recommendation, but there is history between the Justice League and the Power Rangers. For those who may be aware, Boom Studios has led a revival of thePower Rangersthrough its various comic book series set in the same universe as the TV series. This has led to the creation offan favorite characters like Lord Drakkon, as well as a crossover with DC’s superhero team the Justice League.
In 2017, six issues ofJustice League/Power Rangerswere released. The comic book series sees the Power Rangers join forces with the Justice League to fight off the combined threat of Brainiac and Lord Zedd. The comics were relatively well-received by fans and sets a precedent for the Power Rangers to meet up with the Justice League. As for which specific Justice League members could be part of the hypothetical guest fighter DLC, that’s up for debate.
Superman or Batman would be the obvious choices, but there’s also an argument to be made that Brainiac should be the DC Comics guest fighter instead. It’s highly unlikely to ever happen, but perhaps a Power Ranger could make an appearance in thenextInjusticevideo game. There have been plenty of guest fighters in theInjusticeseries already, so that seems like a more realistic scenario in the grand scheme of things.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Just like there have been comic books that have crossed over the Justice League andPower Rangersuniverse, there have also been comics that combine the worlds ofPower RangersandTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This is reason enough to make some fans want to seeTMNTcharactersappear inPower Rangers: Battle for the Gridguest fighter DLC, but there is another reason why a crossover like this would make sense.
As some may recall, there used to be aTeenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesTV series on Fox Kids calledNinja Turtles: The Next Mutation.Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutationaired on the same channel asPower Rangers: In Space, and so the crossover episode “Shell Shocked” was concocted to have the two teams of superheroes meet. While the turtle designs fromNinja Turtles: The Next Mutationmay be better left in the past, seeing modern takes on the turtles inPower Rangers: Battle for the Gridcould be fun for fans.
Transformers
Now that the rights to thePower Rangersfranchise are owned by Hasbro, it opens the door for all kinds of crossovers that were never possible before. This includes a crossover with theTransformersfranchise, and in fact, there have been rumors of a potentialPower Rangers/Transformerscrossover feature film some day. While that may or may not ever come to fruition,Power Rangers: Battle for the Gridis the perfect opportunity for the franchises to crossover in the meantime.
Any number of the titular Transformers would potentially make strong additions to thePower Rangers: Battle for the Gridroster of playable fighters, but one has to imagine that the most popular characters would be the most likely candidates. If such a crossover were ever to happen, it seems likely that acharacter like Optimus Primewould be the representative for theTransformersbrand, or maybe his archenemy Megatron instead.
There is a problem with this potential crossover, though, and that is the size difference between the Transformers and the Power Rangers. Considering this, maybe aTransformerscrossover could come in the form of Transformers taking the place of thePower Rangers' Zordsinstead.
Power Rangers: Battle for the Gridis out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, and Xbox One.
