Power Rangers – New looks for Rita Repulsa and a redesigned Alpha-5 revealed

It’s the mid-90s, and TV was glorious. Especially if you were a kid. Let’s face it, we had the best of the best then. The Adventures of Pete and Pete, Doug and Reboot to name a few stellar series. But top of the charts for many a week? Power Rangers. Taking the best of the Japanese Super-Sentai series and Americanising it for western audiences, the show was a blast.

Power Rangers has endured for tens of seasons over the years, but it only enjoyed success on the big screen once. That weird Turbo movie doesn’t count, sorry. But the first Power Rangers movie was wonderfully weird stuff. Costumes that were ahead of their time, terribad CGI big robot battles and a villain who was slimier than a politician. Man, my nostalgia is over 9000 right now.

Everything is cyclical however, which currently explains the upcoming reboot. Shinier! Organically techier! Elizabeth Banksier! Because this is one Rita Repulsa who doesn’t look like she spent the last ten thousand years in a dumpster on the moon:

I cannot wait to see this incarnation of the cosmic witch hit the cosplay scene. Or the Rangers in the actual movie. While Rita and the Rangers themselves look fantastic so far, one other iconic character looks a bit odd in his redesign (via IGN). Here’s hoping that Alpha-5 doesn’t scream AY-YI-YI-YI-YI! every five seconds:

Weird huh? Fun fact: Alpha-5 was voiced by Richard Horvitz in the original American series. Yes, the voice of Invader Zim voiced the panicky helper bot. Now try to watch an old Power Rangers episode without imagining Alpha-5 shrieking about doom. Power Rangers is shaping up nicely so far. The first trailer looked surprisingly gritty and reserved, while the look of the Rangers themselves is downright alien.

I dig that. Power Rangers morphs into cinemas next year on March 24 and stars Naomi Scott, Becky G., Ludi Lin, RJ Cyler, Dacre Montgomery, Bill Hader, and Bryan Cranston.

Last Updated: December 1, 2016