Gritty Gay Power Rangers Features Out Magazine Cameo

Adi Shankar, the producer behind critically beloved action film Dredd, and Joseph Kahn, the director of numerous B-level action features...and also the Taylor Swift "Blank Space" music video, have teamed up to pay homage to their childhood with a new devilishly dark and gritty take on the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

Titled Power/Rangers, the short takes place in a world in which the Power Rangers have lost and the evil Machine Empire (from the show's Zeo season) has taken over. It stars Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff as former Pink Ranger Kimberly Hart and Dawson's Creek's James Van Der Beek as former Red Ranger. (Not to be confused, this is different from the Lionsgate film reboot that has a cast that may include Donald Glover, Malese Jow, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Dyland O'Brien, and if it's to be believed, Shailene Woodley.)

Of special note to us was the fact that, at the 7:15 mark, the Green Ranger pays a visit to the Blue Ranger, who has become a Tim Cook-style industrial mogul using his technological knowhow, only to find that he has seemingly committed suicide (though things are not so clear for those who watch to the end). As this take place, narration from the villain talks about the Blue Ranger's lack of interest in the Pink Ranger -- while the camera pans across a fake mock up of an Out magazine "Love Issue" cover framed on the wall that features the Blue Ranger and his partner hanging on the Blue Ranger's office wall. Though the Blue Ranger was straight in the original show, this is an obvious nod to David Yost, the actor who played the Blue Ranger in the original series, who came out of the closet in 2010.

Though extremely well-produced, the short's dark tone is bound to create a polarizing effect among fans. Check it out for yourself, and tell us what you think.