Power Rangers Just Let Its New Team Do Something No Other Could: Defeat the Story's Thanos (2024)

Warning: Spoilers for Ranger Academy #12!The most powerful Power Rangers squad has just emerged as a Thanos-level superpower. BOOM! Studios' original Rangerverse has come to a close with the Darkest Hour finale, leaving room for its new Prime relaunch to take its place. The "Darkest Hour" arc as a whole solidified the TV show's evil mastermind, Dark Specter, as the Thanos of Power Rangers lore. It took an entire Rangers superteam to finally defeat him.

The Ranger Academy team has emerged as the one team capable of defeating Dark Specter by themselves in Ranger Academy #12 by Maria Ingrande Mora and Jo Mi-Gyeong. Although Mighty Morphin Power Rangers just ended its eight-year comic run, Ranger Academy is still set within the same universe as the MMPR comic series.

As such, Dark Specter proves to be just as much of a threat in this series, but miraculously, the students don't need help from any other team to defeat him - in their first official team-up, no less. But the question remains of how BOOM!'s final Rangerverse team ranks among the most powerful Rangers squads.

Ranger Academy's Power Rangers Team Defeats Dark Specter

Ranger Academy #12 by Maria Ingrande Mora, Jo Mi-Gyeong, Joana LaFuente, and Ed Dukeshire

Ranger Academy follows Sage, a teenage girl living in the middle of nowhere on a distant galaxy farm with her father, who, unbeknownst to her, was once a member of the Power Rangers. When Ranger Academy cadets Tula and Mathis - whose mother is redeemed Power Rangers Time Force villain Nadira - crash-land on their colony, it inspires Sage to stow away on their ship in hopes of something more than what she's experienced on the farm. In becoming a Junior Cadet, Sage continues befriending other campus students, like Maev, Theo, Lindy, and Kartyr.

In due time, each student starts working toward earning the opportunity to morph and gain their colors. While Sage worries that she's cursed upon learning her Green Ranger destiny, the fun and games are over when Dark Specter crashes the parent's weekend dance. During the "Darkest Hour" story, Dark Specter begins infecting every universe and timeline in hopes of transforming unsuspecting Rangers into his zombie army. Dark Specter's infection starts to spread throughout the school, including upon Sage's friend Mathis.

Sage and her friends free Mathis from Dark Specter's influence. Soon after, they all concoct a plan to use the school's connection to the Morphin Grid to dispel Dark Specter's infection from everyone and, most importantly, dispel the entity from their school grounds. This plan proves easier said than done when the group of friends is forced to combat Dark Specter head-on. As Sage struggles to handle all the Morphin Grid energy by herself, all of her friends morph into their respective costumes to help her, marking the first time they've all morphed together at the same time.

Dark Specter Has Never Been Easy to Defeat by a Sole Power Rangers Team

Ony Multiple Teams or a Z-Wave Have Been Able to Defeat Him

Their morph in unison comes not a moment too soon as Dark Specter strikes the next-gen Power Rangers. The Rangers work together, strategizing out loud to chop Dark Specter down like a tree until he's cut into pieces, eradicating him from their world. The team of Sage, Tula, Theo, Lindy, Maev, and Kartyr are able to defeat Dark Specter by themselves, which, given the precedence of the enemy's power in both the show and the comics, is a bigger deal than some readers may think.

In the television and comic series, Dark Specter has never been an easy-to-defeat Power Rangers threat, and Rangers have needed extreme means to have even a chance of beating him. He originally debuted in Power Rangers in Space and was unveiled as the overarching Big Bad of the franchise who's pulled the strings from the beginning as the Grand Monarch of Evil and head of the United Alliance of Evil. Every villain dating back to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has either answered to Dark Specter or operated on direct orders of Dark Specter - hence the Thanos comparison.

In the Power Rangers in Space finale, it takes a sacrifice from Zordon to disperse pure energy across the universe in one big Z-Wave to finally defeat Dark Specter. Meanwhile, in BOOM! Studios' "Darkest Hour" arc and one-shot finale of the same name, it all ended with multiple Rangers from multiple timelines teaming up to use their shared power to destroy Dark Specter for good. Meanwhile, the Junior Cadet Rangers of Ranger Academy only needed themselves and the power of teamwork to put a stop to Dark Specter.

Where Do the Junior Power Rangers Rank in Power Levels?

They Could Be Among the Strongest Power Rangers Teams

Being able to defeat Dark Specter by themselves is not a feat that should be taken for granted in the grand scheme of Power Rangers lore. When Dark Specter manifests in the final panels, he mentions that the process that the Rangers go through to connect to the Morphin Grid allows him "to become more concentrated." On a technical level, Dark Specter is even more powerful than usual in their final fight, yet he still falls to a crop of teenagers with attitude in training.

It boils down to skill level and teamwork more than anything, but perhaps the powers of the Power Rangers of Ranger Academy are stronger than initially given credit for. The franchise has set a high bar for Rangers to call themselves the most powerful of the franchise. The Zeo squad may be the franchise's most OP unit, while the final issues of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers introduced arguably the most powerful team, powered by Tommy Oliver's White Tiger Power Coin.

The bar is set high thanks to past teams, and with this issue being the finale of Ranger Academy, this might be the last time readers will see the Junior Power Rangers, making it harder to rank them on a power rankings scale. However, the unheard-of feat of defeating Dark Specter without the help of another team or source is enough to consider the Junior Rangers among the most powerful Power Rangers teams. They may not be the true most powerful Power Rangers, but doing something like defeating Dark Specter at least puts them in contention.

Ranger Academy #12 is available now from BOOM! Studios.

Power Rangers

Power Rangers is a long-running multimedia franchise that debuted in 1993 with the TV series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Created by Haim Saban and adapted from the Japanese Super Sentai series, Power Rangers became a cultural phenomenon by combining action-packed footage from Super Sentai with new scenes featuring American actors. The franchise follows teams of young heroes who transform into Power Rangers to battle various villains, using martial arts, special powers, and giant mechas called Zords. Over the decades, the franchise has expanded into multiple TV series, films, comics, video games, and merchandise, becoming one of the most successful children's franchises in the world.

Created by

Haim Saban , Shuki Levy , Shotaro Ishinomori

First Film

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie

Latest Film

Power Rangers

First TV Show

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers

Latest TV Show

Power Rangers Cosmic Fury

First Episode Air Date

August 28, 1993

Cast

Dacre Montgomery , Naomi Scott , RJ Cyler , Ludi Lin , Becky G. , Bryan Cranston , Bill Hader , Elizabeth Banks , David Yost , Amy Jo Johnson

TV Show(s)

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers , Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers , Power Rangers Zeo , Power Rangers Turbo , Power Rangers In Space , Power Rangers Lost Galaxy , Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue , Power Rangers Time Force , Power Rangers Wild Force , Power Rangers Ninja Storm , Power Rangers Dino Thunder , Power Rangers S.P.D. , Power Rangers Mystic Force , Power Rangers Operation Overdrive , Power Rangers Jungle Fury , Power Rangers RPM , Power Rangers Samurai , Power Rangers Megaforce , Power Rangers Dino Charge , Power Rangers Ninja Steel , Power Rangers Beast Morphers , Power Rangers Dino Fury , Power Rangers Cosmic Fury

Character(s)

Jason Lee Scott , Tommy Oliver , Kimberly Hart , Zack Taylor , Trini Kwan , Billy Cranston , Rita Repulsa , Lord Zedd , Alpha 5 , Zordon

Video Game(s)

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle , Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid , Saban's Power Rangers Megaforce , Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind

Summary

Power Rangers is a long-running multimedia franchise that debuted in 1993 with the TV series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Created by Haim Saban and adapted from the Japanese Super Sentai series, Power Rangers became a cultural phenomenon by combining action-packed footage from Super Sentai with new scenes featuring American actors. The franchise follows teams of young heroes who transform into Power Rangers to battle various villains, using martial arts, special powers, and giant mechas called Zords. Over the decades, the franchise has expanded into multiple TV series, films, comics, video games, and merchandise, becoming one of the most successful children's franchises in the world.