There's a new Power Rangers movie coming, and it might not be the low-rent kind of film you might expect from the series' past. The people behind the movie just announced (via Twitter) that Elizabeth Banks has joined the cast as the classic villain Rita Repulsa.
How evil @ElizabethBanks joins the #PowerRangersMovie cast as the villainous, #RitaRepulsa. pic.twitter.com/BJQV1KAwYv
— Power Rangers (@PowerRangers) February 2, 2016
Banks confirmed the news
, saying, "After 10,000 years, I'm free! It's time to conquer Earth!! Time to play
"
If you forget what Rita looks like:
"But wait, Elizabeth Banks doesn't look anything like that!" you say, as if we haven't seen her with a surprising hairdo before.
We don't know too much about the plot of the movie, but the official Power Rangers social media accounts have been dripping out cast announcements slowly but steadily, starting with Naomi Scott as the Pink Ranger.
The long-standing thought is that Power Rangers is a reboot that will go back to the original Might Morphin Power Rangers TV series, and the inclusion of Rita as the villain would fit into that idea. The film's Executive Producer Roberto Orti put question marks on that idea by saying the movie has "continuity within the world," but he's no longer with the project.
In any case, Power Rangers is currently scheduled to hit theaters on March 24, 2017.