Here's Your First Look at Elizabeth Banks as Green-Friendly 'Power Rangers' Villain Rita Repulsa

With 'MIB 23' currently in development, will someone finally throw 'Power Rangers' into an equally ridiculous crossover movie?

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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If Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice still has you sad like Affleck, just remember this: a Power Rangers reboot is happening and it's now less than a year away. Elizabeth Banks has signed on to portray notorious non-nice person Rita Repulsa, with PeoplegivingRangers heads an early glimpse at the reboot's take on the green-friendly villain on Tuesday:

"It's definitely a modern and edgy re-imagining of the original Rita Repulsa," Banks told People of the fresh look. "We wanted to give her a backstory that connects her to the new Rangers." Understandably, Banks is apparently very much looking forward to "world domination and being unpredictable" during the shoot. Just for the sake of comparison, here's the original (i.e. not green) Rita:

As for what's expected to go down in this Rangers reboot, director Dean Israelite (Project Almanac) toldIGN way back in June of last year that concerned fans have nothing to worry about with regards to the usual pitfalls of the reboot format. In fact, Israelite has a personal connection to the source material, as he grew up watching the TV series in South Africa. With any luck, that passion will eventually result in a seemingly improbable crossover event in the vein of the forthcoming MIB 23.

"I read the script and was really surprised by it and thought there was a really cool, contemporary, mature but still playful, buoyant and fun take on the material, and was updated in a really interesting way," Israelite said. "It had this wonderful character that's essential to going on a fantastic adventure. I was instantly drawn to it." Saban's Power Rangers, which also stars Dacre Montgomery as the Red Ranger, Naomi Scott as the Pink Ranger, Becky G as the Yellow Ranger, RJ Cyler as the Blue Ranger, and Ludi Lin as the Black Ranger, is expected to bring about a worldwide nostalgia crisis when it hits theaters on Mar. 24, 2017.

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