WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Power Rangers Unlimited: Edge of Darkness #1 by Frank Gogol, Simone Ragazzoni, Igor Monti, Sabrina Del Grosso, and Ed Dukeshire, on sale now.
Power Rangers Unlimited: Edge of Darkness expands the world of the Rangers, filling the space with the arrival of several popular characters from the long-running franchise. Among those is the Phantom Ranger, a mysterious force of good who first appeared over two decades ago. In the time since this Ranger's first appearance, the identity of the person behind the mask has never been revealed, a situation that may be remedied soon in the comics published by Boom! Studios.
Edge of Darkness sees the mysterious Ranger scouring the planet Hartunia at the request of Zordon, who the Ranger has worked with for thousands of years. The majority of life on the planet was recently extinguished after an attack by an Empyreal, and the Ranger has little hope of finding much of value on the world. However, the Ranger uncovers evidence of a dark ritual used to summon the massively powerful Dark Specter, a threat even more deadly than the Empyreals.
First appearing in 1997 in an episode of Power Rangers Turbo entitled "The Phantom Phenomenon," the Phantom Ranger wasted no time establishing themselves as an ally of the Turbo Rangers. Between their incredible arsenal, fighting prowess, and Predator-like cloaking ability, there has rarely been a fight that the Phantom Ranger could not handle. The Phantom Ranger's story didn't end with Turbo, as they made several appearances on the following show, Power Rangers in Space. With as many times as they helped the Power Rangers, it's surprising that the Phantom Ranger's identity was never revealed. That doesn't mean there weren't plans in place to do so, nor that there weren't clues left behind as to who or what could be inside the armor.
At some point in time the two-part finale of In Space was planned as a three-part episode that would culminate in the identity of the Phantom Ranger being revealed. At the request of Fox the finale was trimmed, and soon enough rumors began to spread. Supposedly the intended end to the season would have unveiled the Phantom Ranger as either Zordon's son or the father of Justin, the Blue Turbo Ranger. Later interviews with famed producers Shuki Levy and Judd Lynn would dispel these rumors, though neither of their concepts ever came to fruition on the small screen either. Levy's original concept for the character's true identity, or at least the pitch he made that has been confirmed by others who worked behind the scenes, was that the Phantom Ranger existed as a "Ghost Robot." This scenario posited that the Phantom Ranger was made up of the combined spirits of the Rangers who had fallen before them. When Judd Lynn was asked about the character, he commented that his idea was for original Ranger Bill Cranston to be the man behind the mystery.
While the current comics have shown Billy to be capable of constructing his own Green Ranger, albeit with some help from Grace Sterling and Promethea Labs, there is little chance that he is the Phantom Ranger of the comics. With all of the secrets he has been keeping from Zordon and the other Rangers, not to mention the thousand year history of the Phantom Ranger, there just is no reason to believe that Zordon would trust him in such a powerful position.
Shuki Levy's concept might not be far from the mark, however, as the Phantom Ranger of the comics literally bled raw Grid Energy when injured, though that doesn't necessarily mean they are a spirit or robot. It is known that the Phantom Ranger draws their power from Eltar, even if they themselves are not Eltarian. Whatever the case may be, it appears that the comics are now looking to solve this mystery that has now existed for nearly twenty-five years.
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