A huge bombshell just dropped. I’m not sure if you’ve felt it. Up to this point, things have been quite on the POWER RANGERS front for quite some time. The last we heard from it was around Halloween last year when they announced our leads as the Power Rangers themselves. As exciting as that all was, at the end of the day, they were all relatively unknown talent, and as such, it was difficult to latch on to anything.

Today marks the day that changes, as Elizabeth Banks has been announced via Instagram as the villainous Rita Repulsa for the flick.

Check out the announcement photo below!

This bit of casting news is more than perfect. While Elizabeth Banks may seem like your typical beautiful actress, her comedy work is on point. She’s the type of actress who will do whatever it takes for the joke, and if you’re familiar with the character of Rita Repulsa from the 90s TV show, you know Elizabeth Banks will be hamming it up in the best way possible (Of course, they’ll work to make her look less campy than she did in the original series).

Apart from her being hired on for her talent, it’s smart of the studio to hire her simply because of her name. She may not be the most recognized actress of all time, but she definitely has experience and gravitas, and this will go a long way to getting folks into theater who don’t necessarily like to see all-new faces. 

As of this writing, there is no news on Rita Repulsa’s role in the film. My instinct is to think she’ll be this movie’s big bad, but over the course of her role in the original series, she was utilized as more than just a bad guy. While it makes sense they would use her as the main villain, as this is a franchise intended to last a good while, I wouldn’t think it crazy if they brought on someone else to be the main main villain above her (perhaps the casting of Zed is in order?).

What do you think of the casting of Elizabeth Banks in SABAN’S POWER RANGERS? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!

POWER RANGERS is currently slated for a March 24, 2017 release.

SOURCE: Power Rangers Instagram