The star of the acclaimed ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’, R.J. Cyler makes the fourth out of five ‘Power Rangers’ in the upcoming movie directed by Dean Israelite.  Cyler will be playing the Blue Ranger and joins Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott and Ludi Lin who will be portraying the Red, Pink and Black Rangers respectively.  That leaves only the Yellow Ranger to be announced.

As was the case with the other three, Cyler’s casting was announced via the ‘Power Rangers’ movie’s Twitter account:

David Yost as the original Billy the Blue Ranger

There have been conflicting reports regarding the new ‘Power Rangers’ film.  Initially, it was reported that this would be a reboot of the first version of the long-running franchise, ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ which began in 1993.  But a recent report nixed all of that, stating that the film would be a continuation of the show, picking up with the current incarnation ‘Power Rangers: Dino Charge’.

This would of course be a questionable move, as a new ‘Power Rangers’ not based on ‘Mighty Morphin’ with no built-in nostalgia or fanbase wouldn’t necessarily draw much of an audience.  (‘Dino Charge’ generally draws about one million viewers… and that’s for free.)

Here’s hoping that those rumors turn out to be false and that Lionsgate is actually doing a modern reboot of ‘Mighty Morphin’ with a new Jason, Kimberly, Zack, Trini and Billy.  And if that’s the case, Cyler will be playing Billy, the brains of the group originally played by David Yost.  Billy started off clumsy, but thanks to his ninja training eventually outgrew that.  As the Blue Ranger, Billy pilots the Triceratops Zord and wields the Power Lance weapon.

Before the ‘Dino Charge’ rumors, this description of Billy from the movie was released:

Billy – 17 years old, slight and awkward. Billy is challenged in his abilities to communicate and interact socially. Whip-smart and sweet, but always odd. Sometimes in a fun way, sometimes not, Billy is a kid with no filter. Showing his emotions, understanding sarcasm, and dealing with his OCD is a constant challenge. Has never really had any friends and instantly gravitates towards Jason.

Also in a separate leaked movie summary, it is Billy and Jason who discover the gold Power Coins that will eventually grant the teens their powers.

That just leaves the Yellow Ranger, who will hopefully be Trini, to be announced and judging by the rapidity of the last couple of announcements, that should come within the next day or so.

What do you think of the first foursome?  Will Cyler make a good Billy (or other Blue Ranger)?

Source: Screen Rant