There aren’t very many big names in the list of actors who will be playing the eponymous mighty morphin’ teens in the Power Rangers movie, but at least one of the villains they’ll be using sweet karate moves on is famous. As reported by Variety, Elizabeth Banks has signed on to play Rita Repulsa, the evil alien witch who was the first big bad of the original Power Rangers TV show. She’s most fondly remembered for her cool hairstyle, the elaborate collar on her evil witch outfit, and, of course, her horrible, glass-shattering speaking voice. Elizabeth Banks will probably have to start eating gravel or something if she wants her performance to be true to the original show, but maybe she has a talent for making a terrible shrieking noise that she’s never been able to show off until now.
Whatever her voice sounds like, this seems to indicate that the Power Rangers movie is skewing pretty close to the storyline of the old show. Hopefully that means it’ll also feature the plot where a new villain called Lord Zedd appeared to try to kill the Power Rangers, but then Rita Repulsa got jealous and used a magic potion to make him fall in love with her so they could try and kill the Power Rangers together. It was a weird show.
Here’s Banks confirming the news on Twitter and referencing the original Power Rangers opening: