It was recently announced that filming for Saban's Power Rangers, which is scheduled for March 24, 2017 release, has officially kicked off. The names of its titular superheroes and that of the main antagonist of the movie are the same as those of the originals, but some of them had their races swapped.
However, the movie is unlikely to face any "white-washing" controversy, like the recently released Gods of Egypt. Nor will there be any "forced diversity" controversy, like last year's Fantastic Four. The diversity in the source characters is apparently retained by the Power Rangers reboot, in spite of those swaps. That's what the director of the movie, Dean Israelite, thinks too.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the director claimed that diversity was "a very important part" of their whole casting process, explaining:
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.
Power Rangers costume will be getting an update!
Power Rangers costume will undergo updates! (Photo Credit – 7 Themes)
In the interview, Dean Israelite revealed that Weta Workshop, of The Lord of the Rings fame, is working to provide updates to the Power Rangers’ costumes. However, these modifications won't keep them from being immediately recognizable as the Rangers’ costumes. All that Dean and his team want to do is to give them a "really modern, edgy, badass, aspirational quality". The director claimed that they have pushed themselves to make the costumes "feel different from any other superhero costume that's out there". He added:
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.
Director praises Rita Repulsa actress Elizabeth Banks!
Dean is very excited to have Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa! (Photo Credit – Elizabeth Banks Facebook)
Dean Israelite is "very excited" that they've succeeded in landing Elizabeth Banks for the role of Rita Repulsa. And he thinks Banks loves having the opportunity to "really embrace the insanity and deliciousness" of the supervillain in terms of how "weird and wonderful" she is, and to "really dive into and consume" the part. He added:
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.
If you're wondering how Elizabeth Banks would look as Rita Repulsa, the good news is that ace artist BossLogic has created an artwork of Banks as the supervillain. Check it out below!
Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa (Fan-art by BossLogic)
Official first look at the new Power Rangers launched!
The official first look at the new Power Rangers has been launched. Don't get too excited – they aren't wearing their Ranger costumes! But since they've called it the "official first look", it's worth checking out!
Official first look at the new Power Rangers! (Photo Credit –EW)
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