7 Years Ago Today: The Most Unpredictable Power Rangers Series Unveiled a Green Ranger Twist No One Saw Coming
From Mighty Morphin trailblazer Tommy Oliver to Cosmic Fury standout Izzy Garcia, the Green Ranger mantle has defined Power Rangers for more than 30 years — and seven years ago today, one of its icons finally made the long-awaited return that had fans buzzing.
Green Rangers have a way of stealing the spotlight. It started with Mighty Morphin's Tommy Oliver, and it keeps rolling all the way up to Cosmic Fury's Izzy Garcia. Tucked inside that long green legacy is one of the franchise 's strangest curveballs: the HyperForce Green Ranger, who crashed the party in the most delightfully odd corner of Power Rangers.
The day HyperForce went green
On March 27, 2018, the 25th episode of Power Rangers HyperForce — fittingly titled "Enter The Green Ranger" — finally introduced Joe Shih. The twist: Joe is sprinting through the timeline to find the HyperForce team on the exact day he is supposed to be getting married. Because this show loves chaos, his odyssey ropes in familiar heavy hitters like Time Force's Jen Scotts and the Sentinel Knight. It all culminates with Joe actually getting that first dance with his new wife Nadira — just not in the calm, drama- free way anyone would hope for. Very on-brand for HyperForce.
Wait, what was HyperForce again?
HyperForce launched in 2017 and ran a single season of 25 episodes. It was not a standard TV season. It was a live-play tabletop RPG campaign produced by Hyper RPG, set inside the main Power Rangers timeline, with the story steered in real time by Game Master Malika Lim. The premise kicks off in the year 3016 at the Time Force Academy, with the team serving as Time Force cadets under the leadership of the iconic Time Force Pink Ranger, Jen Scotts. Yes, it is a deep-cut, time-hopping mash-up that pulls in both TV and comic canon — and somehow, it works.
- Peter Sudarso as Marvin, the Red Ranger
- Christina Vee as Vesper, the Black Ranger
- Paul Schrier as Jack, the Yellow Ranger
- Meghan Camarena as Chloe, the Pink Ranger
- Andre Meadows as Eddie, the Blue Ranger
- Yoshi Sudarso as Joe, the Green Ranger
Fun sidebar: both Sudarso brothers are TV alumni too. Peter played Preston the Blue Ranger in Ninja Steel and Super Ninja Steel, and Yoshi played Koda the Blue Ranger in Dino Charge and Dino Super Charge.
The appeal: canon chaos with familiar faces
Because their ship can jump through time, the HyperForce crew pinballs across eras and seasons: Mighty Morphin, Dino Thunder, Mystic Force, S.P.D., RPM — even into the Boom Studios comics, including the Shattered Grid storyline. Along the way, a bunch of former Rangers dropped by: Jason David Frank, Karan Ashley, Cameron Jebo, Mike Ginn, and Christopher Khayman Lee among them. It is a love letter to the franchise that is also completely unpredictable, which is exactly why fans latched onto it.
The legacy after the stream ended
HyperForce wrapped after those 25 episodes, but the team did not vanish. The Rangers crossed over into the comics and got their own stories there, which is a pretty great afterlife for a tabletop experiment. A second season never materialized, but the show still has a loyal following — and Joe Shih's last-minute Green debut stands as one of those wonderfully weird Power Rangers moments you could only get from HyperForce.