Power Rangers: Once and Always – Where Are Bulk and Skull?

This article contains spoilers for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always.

Bulk and Skull are titans of the Power Rangers franchise. There from the first episode in 1993 as the comedic bullies, the two characters grew and changed over the first seven seasons, outlasting any other original cast member. While Skull was written out at the start of Power Ranger Lost Galaxy, Bulk continued throughout the season. Later the two made a brief appearance in the 10th anniversary episode, “Forever Red.” Then Bulk returned as a main cast member in Power Rangers Samurai and Super Samurai (alongside a brief cameo by Skull.) 

Sadly the two don’t make any direct appearances in the 30th anniversary special, Once and Always. How can you do a tribute to the original Power Rangers without Bulk and Skull? Thankfully, even without their appearance, the special doesn’t forget these two heroes of the franchise. 

While the Putty Patrol attacks the Earth, a human civilian is tossed through a billboard. A billboard that features the faces of none other than Bulk and Skull! It’s a quick cameo to be sure but even this gives us something to extrapolate off of. The billboard is advertising Skullovitch and Bulkmeier Bulk Food Co, with the tagline, “Use Your Skull, Buy in Bulk.” The two’s heads are photoshopped onto cartoons holding a giant sandwich, one that bears a passing resemblance to the massive sandwich Bulk consumed in MMPR’s “A Bad Reflection on You.”

Bulk and Skull started a bulk food company? It makes sense, what with all the food that ended up tossed on them throughout their run on the franchise. It also points to a new development between the characters. The last time we saw Bulk and Skull in Samurai? Bulk was seemingly dirt poor, and Skull was rich. We never found out how this happened to either of them since, after all, in “Forever Red” Bulk owned his own club, “Club Bulkmeier” and Skull possibly worked there? (This also does nothing to address the fact that Bulk was on the alien planet Mirinoi at the end of Lost Galaxy.) 

Whatever the case, during Skull’s cameo appearance in Samurai the two had not seen each other in some time. Perhaps Bulkmeier went under while Skull found other business opportunities? We don’t know but by the time of Once and Always, which appears to take place around ten years after Samurai, Bulk and Skull looked to have grown closer and started the bulk food company together. Or at least, one of them got the likeness of the other to slap onto billboards. 

We’re still left with a lot of questions but at least this cameo appearance leaves the two on better terms than they were at the end of Super Samurai. Maybe the 35th anniversary special can track what the hell happened to Bulk and Skull after Lost Galaxy and finally give us some insight on what created the rift between them? The fans must know!

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always is now streaming on Netflix.