It’s morphin’ time! Twitter got in formation Thursday to confer over the release of the first photo of the new Power Rangers in their suits.
The third film in the franchise, which has also produced 23 seasons of its television series to date, will be released in 2017. Entertainment Weekly exclusively released the photo, featuring the “five teenagers with attitude” in extraterrestrial armor that is crystallized around their bodies, as opposed to the spandex suits from the franchise’s past and most other action films. “It’s tricky finding a new language for a superhero costume. Ours is an alien costume that grows on them, that’s not man-made. You can’t win everyone over, but we are trying to appeal to a more mature audience and gain new fans,” said production designer Andrew Menzies.
Reaction from fans seems to be mixed, from many not feeling it, to others giving it a chance. Some criticized the new look, but realized that we are all going to watch it anyway.
“Power Rangers look wack now!”
*clicks Fandango for show times*
“Childhood ruined!”
*buys Popcorn and drink before sitting down*
“TERRIBLE!”— Baal So Hard (@SageTerrence) May 5, 2016
Others don’t understand why gender politics were involved in the new suits, with the female rangers getting defined chests and heels.
My least fav design is when girls have defined boobs in suits. THAT ISN’T HOW CLOTHES(especially armor) SHOULD WORK. https://t.co/ZGjQb8465k
— Rincey (@rinceya) May 5, 2016
When you gotta defeat Rita Repulsa in the morning, but you gonna get it popping at the club that night. pic.twitter.com/quj5p1lcXQ
— X (@XLNB) May 5, 2016
It is worthy to note, however, that the female rangers do not have spandex suits as they typically don.
It also seems like the release of the show spurred longtime fans and newcomers alike to dig more into the movie revival. Despite the casting of the new rangers being announced in 2015, lots of people are just figuring out the details. The new cast keeps the names from the original series, featuring singer Becky G as Trini the Yellow Ranger, Ludi Lin as Zack the Black Ranger, Dacre Montgomery as Jason the Red Ranger, Naomi Scott as Kimberly the Pink Ranger, and RJ Cyler as Billy the Blue Ranger.
In the original incarnation of the franchise, Zack, the Black Ranger, was portrayed as black, and Trini, the Yellow Ranger, as Asian. Some fans aren’t too happy that production decided to switch up the races. There was also previous criticism for Elizabeth Banks being cast as villain Rita Repulsa, who was Asian in the original film.
If the Black Ranger doesn’t still do this before he fights, you can keep your stupid little movie @ThePowerRangers pic.twitter.com/g9TGJryWAT
— Mac The Magician (@T_DMac) May 5, 2016
Aye for the new Power Rangers movie..I want a African American black ranger. Fuck being PC..that shit was tight as a kid. Idcidc
— Kylo Henn. (@HolaEZITO) May 5, 2016
if you wanted to avoid a black guy playing the black ranger and an east asian playing the yellow one, racebending them is NOT the answer
— adel (@finndamneron) May 5, 2016
However, the series did face steep criticism back in the day for having an African-American actor play the Black Ranger and an Asian actress play the Yellow Ranger. Some used this to ridicule the criticism of this reboot.
why is the blue ranger black? why is the yellow ranger not asian? why is the pink ranger not a blonde? everything is not the way it is.
— Yab-kun (@yabbadon) May 5, 2016
If Power Rangers don’t have stereotypes I aint watchin.
Black Ranger gotta be a nigga with a gun that can dance and Yellow gotta Asian AF!
— VI Seconds (@visecs) May 5, 2016
Also, some fans seem to forget that while black actor Walter Emmanuel Jones and Asian actress, the late Thuy Trang were the Black and Yellow Rangers in the original series, they were not the Black and Yellow Ranger in the original film. By then, the franchise had undergone its first reboot, and Johnny Yong Bosch, who is part Korean, was now the Black Ranger and black actress Karan Ashley was now the Yellow Ranger. So claims that the races were switched are not entirely true, as they were first switched back in 1995. All in all, the cast of this movie seems to be one of the most diverse groups of Rangers we’ve seen since the series debuted.
Regardless, our inner blerd and 90s nostalgic community is still pretty pumped to see what this new film is going to bring.
