Major Plot and Character Details Emerge for Power Rangers Reboot

CBR

By Andrew Paul

Published Dec 13, 2016

A bunch of new information about the newest Power Rangers retelling has arrived, detailing a story that's both familiar and all-new.

WARNING: Potential spoilers for "Power Rangers" follow below.

Most information regarding the upcoming "Power Rangers" reboot has been kept under tight wraps, with fans wildly speculating on how the new film will figure into decades' worth of episodes and mythology. According to a slue of recent leaks, however, it seems that some of these Internet theories turned out to be pretty accurate, while other new information indicates the film will diverge in some key ways from its source material.

The Wrap reported what many have suspected since the first images were released a little while back -- Elizabeth Banks' take on the original series' baddie, Rita Repulsa, has been reimagined as an ancient Green Ranger gone rogue as she searches for a powerful artifact to focuses the source of the Rangers' strength into a weapon.

"The Zeo Crystal is an artifact that channels the Morphing Grid -- a dimension that weaves through all things and what gives the 'Power Rangers' their power. The crystal was hidden on Earth to keep it out of the hands of those who would use it as a weapon," the report explained. "The Zeo Crystal is protected by a force field. Anything that comes in contact with it is vaporized."

In order to acquire the Zeo Crystal, Rita is going to have to enlist a revived version of Goldar -- who was destroyed millions of years ago during a big, opening sequence battle, apparently. Fans will probably remember the original winged-dog-monster-guy Goldar from the first series way back in the day.

"Goldar was created with a single purpose -- to penetrate the force field and steal the crystal. Rita Repulsa has been trying to deliver the Zeo Crystal to her master, Lord Zedd, for a long time. It would make quite a statement, as he burned half his face off trying to steal it himself."

So, in addition to Goldar, it looks like yet another big baddie will be making an appearance. No word on how large a role Zedd will play in this film -- although it wouldn't be surprising if he was merely teased in hopes of establishing the new franchise, a la Thanos in the MCU.

On the other side of the fight, Bryan Cranston's Zordon will supposedly be an ancient Red Ranger who was transformed into an energy-state to guide the new recruits in their quest to stop Repulsa, Goldar, and Zedd. Oh, and for what it's worth, Alpha 5 -- voiced by Bill Hader -- will also apparently have "a supple metallic body...able to mutate into different designs to maximize his role." Aye-yai-yai, indeed.

No word on exactly how the giant Zords will figure into all this, but audiences can find out for themselves when "Power Rangers" morphs into theaters on March 24, 2017.