Elizabeth Banks Reveals “Re-Imagined” Reptilian Rita Repulsa Raiments

Here’s your first look at @ElizabethBanks in @ThePowerRangers reboot! https://t.co/v9q7bf1gna pic.twitter.com/sLmnakSrnZ

— People Magazine (@people) April 19, 2016

In People magazine, Elizabeth Banks premiered the “edgy, brand new re-imagining” of Rita Repulsa today, showing off an, uh, intriguing photo of her in full Repulsa costume. You’ll remember that a few months ago, her Power Rangers movie casting was announced with some lukewarm reactions from critics and fans. Her look here seems reminiscent of a snake, and happens to remind me a lot of Cassiopeia, the Medusa-esque snake queen champion in League of Legends. Something about the paneling on the armor or even the incredibly creepy eyes definitely drives that image home. There are a few interesting details of note: first of all, the rope coiled around her neck. Not only does it also look like a snake, it looks like maybe she could possibly wield it as a weapon. The gold claws she’s wearing look like they’re all tipped with needles; you just know somebody’s getting stung.

I’m not sure how to feel about the costume in general. It looks absolutely nothing like the Rita Repulsa from the television show which, given Banks’ comments on this costume, seem a little weird. She said, “It’s definitely a modern and edgy re-imagining of the original Rita Repulsa.” Re-imagining might not be strong enough a word. It’s completely ding-dang different from the original, like I said. One wonders, though: if the costume is so different, what is her performance as Repulsa going to be like? What neat touches could she bring to the character? It’s obvious that this Power Rangers flick is doing its best to revitalize a much-aged franchise. That being said: I’m getting some feels similar to what happened when Jem and the Holograms hit, so… fingers crossed, I guess.

(via io9)

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