Things are really looking up for that Power Rangers reboot. After facing some criticism for the new suits, producers bounced back by casting Bryan Cranston as Zordon. Now, the former Breaking Bad star is dropping new details on the upcoming film and explained why he wasn’t too keen in the idea at first.
"At first I was, to be honest with you, I was reticent to looking at the role because I remember the television series was kind of farcical and silly and 'pow' and 'zow'—weird movements and things like that. I was like, 'Oh, OK,'" he told the Huffington Post. "I wasn’t really high on it until I talked to the producer and read the script and talked to the director. After that I went, 'This is different.'"
By different, he means darker. In lieu of the ’90s television show’s infamously campy vibe, this new adaptation is headed in a much cooler direction. "This is as different a reimagining as the Batman television series as it became the Batman movie series," he continued. "You can’t compare those two, and nor can you compare this movie version of the Power Rangers to that television series... The approach to the film making is completely different."
Don’t hit the panic button just yet. Cranston isn’t referring to the gritty disaster that was Batman v Superman. They’re actually looking a few years back at a more successful movie for inspiration: The Dark Knight.
He added: "I don’t know if the tone is as dark as that because you’re dealing with teenagers. So the appropriateness of that, and real teenage life, and going through high school and the cliques and the popularity or lack thereof, and the bullies and all the different sections and sub-sections of high school life, and the insecurities of these kids and things like that—hopes and dreams—and you embrace all of that into a retelling of the Power Rangers. And what you would get is this new version, this new reimagined version."
This new version has Cranston, who previously did voiceover work for the show, acting alongside Pitch Perfect’s Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa and singer Becky G. as the yellow ranger.
Power Rangers is expected to morph its way into theaters on March 24, 2017.
