Power Rangers' Lord Zedd Actor Wasn't A Fan Of This Development For His Villainous Character

There are few children's multimedia properties with the level of pop culture impact and legacy as massive as "Power Rangers." The franchise is an unprecedented cultural phenomenon that's caused as many controversies as it's 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 reused footage from the "Super Sentai" franchise with original material featuring English-speaking actors for whenever the Rangers aren't wearing masks.

Though the Power Rangers themselves are unique when it comes to superhero teams (the core group has always had a level of gender and racial diversity that other superhero franchises are only starting to match now), a hero is only as good as their villain. The "Power Rangers" property has no shortage of antagonists, but few have quite the same striking iconography as its original baddies, especially Lord Zedd. As played by Edwin Neal and voiced by Robert Axelrod, Lord Zedd is quite a terrifying sight — devil red, flayed, his brain literally showing, and covered only with a shiny metal armor. He calls himself the Emperor of Evil, and he fits that description.

Though 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 first-ever "Power Rangers" antagonist, Rita Repulsa.

"What I didn't like was when Zedd and Rita got married. I was glad to see Rita come back, but as a couple, both characters began to be comic relief rather than threats," Axelrod explained. "I would have preferred to see an uneasy alliance between the two, with some good old double-crossing, rather than her drugging Zedd with a love potion. Would have created more tension."

Zedd and Rita's marriage happens in "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" season 2 when Rita — who's imprisoned by Zedd at the end of the first season due to her failure to destroy the Power Rangers — attempts to overthrow the Emperor of Evil using a love potion. Instead, she actually falls in love with Zedd, and the two get married and vow to destroy the Rangers and their allies. Granted, their romance doesn't last long, as they're eventually defeated and turned into regular humans (though they later regain their powers).

Indeed, as hard as it tries, the "Power Rangers" franchise doesn't always succeed at seamlessly blending footage from the Japanese "Super Sentai" property with original material. Likewise, because the show is technically a remake, the actors on "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" were forced to adhere to both their Japanese counterparts and the English-language interpretation of their storylines. On top of all that, Lord Zedd was played by two different people, which — according to Axelrod — often led to a mismatch between the physical and vocal aspects of the character.

"[The stunt actor's] body language was quite acceptable, but he spoke the lines way too rapidly. I wanted to keep the character stately, slow in pace and impinging in tone, but he made that difficult. He was no actor," Axelrod explained. "I asked several times if I could be on the set to work with him, on my own time, but the opportunity never materialized. I let it go after a while."

Regardless of Axelrod's issues with the role, Zedd remains one of the best parts of the earliest seasons of "Power Rangers." He's also integral to a bizarre "Power Rangers" hoax that ultimately became part of the official canon.