Power Rangers is returning to the big screen next year, and Lionsgate has today unveiled the first official image of the cast assembled. Pictured below are Becky G, RJ Cyler, Naomi Scott, Ludi Lin, and Dacre Montgomery as Trini, Billy, Kimberly, Zack, and Jason respectively.
“From the very beginning, diversity was a very important part of the whole process,” director Dean Israelite said of his approach to casting the team. “We switched all of the races around, but we made sure that the essence of each of those characters are who they were in the original show, and this really will be an origin story of those characters.”
Now, as great as it is to see this lot, a shot of them suited up would have been even better! Asked about their iconic costumes, the filmmaker added: “We’ve really pushed ourselves to make them feel different from any other superhero costume that’s out there. One key that’s different to the Power Ranger suits is that they’re not really suits that people get into. They’re suits that morph onto our kids, so they already have this almost metaphysical quality to them.” That sounds worryingly like 2011’s Green Lantern, but we’ll see!
Finally, talk turned to the recent casting of Elizabeth Banks as the villainous Rita Repulsa.
“It’s very exciting that we got [Banks], and I think what she loves is the opportunity to really embrace the insanity and deliciousness of Rita Repulsa in terms of how weird and wonderful that character was, and really dive into and consume that character,” Israelite continued. “You should always be off-balance when you’re watching her. Is she insane? Is she totally calculated? Does she know what she’s doing? Elizabeth can toe that line really well.”
