In a new interview to promote Jason David Frank's final Power Rangers-esque project, The Legend of the White Dragon, Mark Dacascos touches on the fact that he was the original Red Ranger in the first Super Sentai TV series that Haim Saban and Shuki Levy tried to bring to the United States.
Five years prior to the premiere of Power Rangers on Fox Kids!, Saban and Luki were shopping the project around Hollywood and were looking to get a series that used footage from Choudenshi Bioman (Super Electron Bioman), which is the 8th entry in Japan's Super Sentai franchise.
Titled Bio-Man, a pilot was filmed that featured:
- Victor Lee (Biorhythm Red): The team leader, portrayed by martial artist and actor Mark Dacascos.
- Zack Taylor (Biorhythm Green): The green-suited hero, portrayed by Miguel Núñez Jr.
- Billy Cranston (Biorhythm Blue): The blue-suited hero, portrayed by Tom Silardi.
- Trini Crystal (Biorhythm Yellow): The yellow-suited hero, portrayed by Tricia Leigh Fisher.
- Kimberly Harte (Biorhythm Pink): The pink-suited hero, portrayed by Rebecca Staples.
- Zadar: The main villain, an evil half-human, half-robot warlord attempting to conquer Earth
As you can see, Zack, Billy, Trini, and Kimberly would survive the transition from Bio-Man to Power Rangers, but Victor would ultimately turn into Jason.
Speaking to Screen Rant, Dascacos stated, "I was Red Ranger in Bio-Man, and I think when they took the pilot to the TV convention or something in Vegas, Saban Productions received very positive reviews, but at that time there was no precedent. Nobody had done any shows like that, and nobody was willing to take a chance on it. Yeah. So it didn't get picked up as a pilot, and then cut to maybe two or three years later, they tried again, and by that time, anime and manga had built up a little bit of a swell, and [Mighty Morphin Power Rangers] got picked up, and then it's been this huge thing ever since."
The first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers would utilize footage from the 16th season of the Super Sentai, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger.
Believe it or not, a tiny sliver of Bioman actually made it onto American TV.
A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it clip from the show's premiere episode was tossed into the original pilot for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ("Day of the Dumpster"); you can catch it flashing briefly across the massive computer screen inside the Command Center.
While Legend of the White Dragon has wrapped up its limited run in theaters, you won't have to wait long to catch it at home.
The film hits Digital and VOD platforms on September 22, 2026, with Blu-ray and DVD physical releases following shortly after on October 20.