When the ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ first hit US TVs in the early 90s, the show featured five wholesome, all-American teens “with attitude” battling the forces of Rita Repulsa, a shrill, cone-bra-rocking witch who dwelled on the moon with her monstrous henchmen. She infiltrated the Power Rangers by turning the brooding new kid in town, Tommy Oliver into her own evil Green Ranger who managed to best the heroes before he was freed from Rita’s control.
The format of the show was so popular that it continues to be reinvented today for a new generation of fans, but its the first incarnation that is considered the classic take and none of the colorful menaces that have plagued the teen heroes has proven as unforgettable as the cackling Rita.
So of course, now that the first generation is being revisited and reinvented for the big screen, it makes perfect sense that they will have to match wits and brawn with none other than Rita herself!
The following offers a description of her from a possible sequence from the script:
“A huntress. A striking, yet subtly alien-looking woman. She carries a metallic staff topped with a distinctive crescent shape. Advances with a soldier’s confidence, guided by some sort of compass… Her staff is actually a device of immense power. She points it at the ground. Heads emerge, built layer upon layer like 3-D printing, made from the earth itself… The staff’s technology grants her the ability to create humanoid figures, soulless and robotic.”
Of course Jason, Trini, Billy, Kimberly and Zack weren’t just five random teenagers who decided to take on the forces of evil. They were selected and mentored by a giant, floating head called Zordon, a long-lived being of immense power but without a body, necessitating his recruitment of the Rangers.
The movie appears to depict the origin of Zordon and his eons-long struggle against Rita, revealing that he was the leaders of an ancient team of Power Rangers, who existed on the Earth at the time of the dinosaurs.
Here is a description of the prehistoric Red Ranger:
“Though alien, he looks like a man in his 50s. Sinewy and strong, as if carved from some root that refused to die. A being of integrity and iron will.”
So Rita and Zordon are (at least according to rumor) a lock and the film is expected to feature the original five Rangers recast with unknown actors in their late teens (or who at least look like they are). (But we can hope that Lionsgate has the courtesy of providing cameos for the old school Rangers as an Easter Egg for older fans.)
What other classic aspects from the original show do you think are a MUST for the movie adaptation?
Source: Heroic Hollywood
