James Van Der Beek Starred In An Underrated Sci-Fi Fan Film With A Star Wars Legend
On February 11, 2026, news hit the internet that James Van Der Beek had died. He was 48 years old. Van Der Beek was best known for starring as Dawson Leery in "Dawson's Creek" and Elijah Mundo in "CSI: Cyber," but he had plenty of other noteworthy credits attached to his name. Arguably, the most underrated was "Power/Rangers."
If you're thinking, "Wow, Van Der Beek starred in 'Power Rangers'?" Well, yes, but actually no. We aren't talking about the multi-season series that was adapted from the 50 year Japanese media behemoth known as "Super Sentai," nor the fun-yet-flawed 2017 blockbuster "Power Rangers" film that starred the likes of Dacre Montgomery (Billy Hargrove in "Stranger Things"), Naomi Scott (Skye Riley in "Smile 2"), and Bryan Cranston (the voice of several monsters in the original season of "Power Rangers"). "Power/Rangers" is an unofficial short film helmed by Adi Shankar before he went on to produce shows like "Castlevania" and "Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix."
The "Power/Rangers" film, which is readily available on YouTube, is a dark and adult-oriented re-imagining of the original show that asks "What if the Power Rangers lost?" The movie is mostly told through flashbacks, and it details the fates of the Power Rangers after the world is taken over by evil aliens — specifically the Machine Empire from the third season, "Power Rangers Zeo." The short is currently sitting at a 7.6 rating on IMDb, with many user reviews praising its production quality, tone, and sheer fan appeal. Plus, the "Power/Rangers" has a runtime just under 15 minutes, so it's worth a watch, especially if you grew up on the source material.
The Power/Rangers cast has a power and a force that you've never seen before
James Van Der Beek starred as Rocky in "Power/Rangers." Fans watching the "Power Rangers" free channel on Roku should recognize him as the second Red Ranger. However, that wasn't his only credit. Van Der Beek also wrote the film alongside the director, Joseph Kahn, and Dutch Southern.
"Power/Rangers" also features Kathryn Ann Sackhoff as Kimberly, who many people should recognize as the voice and face of Bo-Katan from numerous "Star Wars" properties, most notably "The Mandalorian" and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Sackhoff also has many other roles under her belt, including Kara "Starbuck" Thrace in 2004's "Battlestar Galactica" and Sarah Hall in "Call of Duty: Black Ops 3" and "Black Ops 4." Some other noteworthy names attached to "Power/Rangers" include Russ Bain (Bobby Bain in "Shetland") and Will Yun Lee (Kovacs Prime in "Altered Carbon").
While James Van Der Beek went on to be cast in numerous movies and shows after "Power/Rangers," none of them left quite the impact as his roles in "Dawson's Creek," "CSI: Cyber," or "Power/Rangers."