The director of Power Rangers has explained his decision to make Elizabeth Banks’ Rita Repulsa the Green Ranger.
The Green Ranger is perhaps the most popular character from the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV show and while the character doesn’t appear in its traditional form, there is a certain reworking present.
Dean Israelite, the director of the movie, decided to have the film’s villain Rita Repulsa be the film’s original Green Ranger, depicted as such at the beginning of the movie alongside Zordon as the original Red Ranger.
Speaking to ComicBook.com, Israelite explained his thinking:
“When I first came up, that is what we started to talk about is that she was going to be the Green Ranger,” said Israelite. “We were trying to figure out a mythology for her, and it felt like there was real evidence in the canon because she ultimately ends up giving Tommy the coin. That there was evidence in a way that she could be the green ranger.”
Israelite’s logic being that Rita could have easily been the Green Ranger before handing over the coin to Tommy, the character that becomes the Green Ranger.
“So it fits really organically into the mythology that is already there, and when we came up with that idea, it was very exciting, because we felt like we had kind of opened up this whole new prologue in a way.”
The character Tommy was actually teased towards the end of the movie, and the actor that played him in the original series, Jason David Frank, also has a small cameo after the film’s climatic battle.
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Saban’s POWER RANGERS follows five ordinary teens who must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove — and the world — is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat. Chosen by destiny, our heroes quickly discover they are the only ones who can save the planet. But to do so, they will have to overcome their real-life issues and before it’s too late, band together as the Power Rangers.
Power Rangers stars Becky G as the Yellow Ranger, Ludi Lin as the Black Ranger, Naomi Scott as the Pink Ranger, Dacre Montgomery as the Red Ranger, R.J. Cyler as the Blue Ranger, Bryan Cranston as Zordon, Bill Hader as Alpha 5 and Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa.
Originally published June 27, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
