Power Rangers actor Lord Zedd wasn’t a fan of this development for his villainous character

There are few children’s media properties with as massive an impact and legacy on pop culture as “Power Rangers.” The franchise is an unprecedented cultural phenomenon that has generated as much controversy as it has created longtime fans of the tokusatsu genre outside of Japan. Created by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, in collaboration with Shotaro Ishinomori, “Power Rangers” combines repurposed footage from the “Super Sentai” franchise with original material featuring English-speaking actors when the Rangers are not wearing masks.

While the Power Rangers themselves are unique as far as superhero teams go (the core group has always had a level of gender and racial diversity that other superhero franchises are only now beginning to match), a hero is only as good as his villain. The “Power Rangers” property has no shortage of antagonists, but few have the same striking iconography as its original villains, particularly Lord Zedd. Played by Edwin Neal and voiced by Robert Axelrod, Lord Zedd is quite a terrifying sight – devilish red, flayed, his brain literally visible and covered only in shiny metallic armor. He calls himself the Evil Emperor, and he fits that description.

Although Zedd remains one of the franchise’s greatest villains, the late Axelrod once told Kaiju-Fan Online (via Vantage Point Interviews) that he had issues with a major plot point involving the character: his marriage to the very first “Power Rangers” antagonist, Rita Repulsa.

“What I didn’t like was when Zedd and Rita got married. I was happy to see Rita return, but as a couple, both characters started to be comic relief rather than a threat,” Axelrod explained. “I would have preferred to see an uneasy alliance between the two, with some good old double-crossing, rather than drugging Zedd with a love potion. That would have created more tension.”

Zedd and Rita’s wedding takes place in Season 2 of “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” when Rita – who is imprisoned by Zedd at the end of the first season due to her failure to destroy the Power Rangers – attempts to overthrow the Evil Emperor using a love potion. Instead, she falls in love with Zedd, and the two marry and vow to destroy the Rangers and their allies. Granted, their romance doesn’t last long, as they are eventually defeated and transformed into regular humans (although they later regain their powers).

Indeed, despite its best efforts, the “Power Rangers” franchise doesn’t always manage to seamlessly blend footage from the Japanese property “Super Sentai” with the original material. Likewise, because the series is technically a remake, the cast of “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” were forced to adhere to both their Japanese counterparts and the English interpretation of their storylines. On top of all this, Lord Zedd was played by two different people, which Axelrod said often resulted in a mismatch between the physical and vocal aspects of the character.

“[The stunt actor’s] The body language was completely acceptable, but he said the lines way too quickly. I wanted to keep the character majestic, slow paced and aggressive in tone, but he made that difficult. He wasn’t an actor,” Axelrod explained. “I asked several times if I could be on set to work with him, in my free time, but the opportunity never materialized. I gave up after a while.”

Regardless of Axelrod’s issues with the role, Zedd remains one of the best elements of the early seasons of “Power Rangers.” He’s also an integral part of a bizarre “Power Rangers” hoax that eventually became part of the official canon.