NYCC: Power Rangers director confirms Goldar at panel

The new Power Rangers movie will feature many familiar names (if not faces) from the original series, including Zordon (voiced by Bryan Cranston), Alpha 5 (voiced by Bill Hader), the zords, and Rita Repulsa (played by Elizabeth Banks). One more name director Dean Israelite confirmed at the Lionsgate panel at New York Comic Con will be Goldar.

After screening the first teaser trailer for the audience at The Theater in Madison Square Garden, the filmmaker name-dropped Rita’s famous henchman who ravaged the Rangers in the ’90s-era series. The monstrous creature is a warrior for Rita who is typically shown wearing gold-plated armor and wielding his signature sword.

Israelite didn’t reveal who would portray the character, and he didn’t give into the fans’ shouts about the Green Ranger. One of the things important to him with this reboot was “making a movie about growing up.” He said, “I wanted to make this a grounded, character-driven origin story that was always set to the backdrop of this fantastic adventure.” Additionally, “I wanted to remain true to the spirit of the franchise that I grow up on and loved,” he said, adding how they “worked really hard to re-imagine it and reinvent it.”

Of course, there can’t be a Goldar without Rita herself. Though Banks wasn’t present for the panel, she sent a video message along with the first teaser trailer for the film. “It was incredible. That’s really the word to describe it,” Becky G (Yellow Ranger Trini) said of working with Banks. “I think she takes full control [over the] decisions she makes for her character.” Both actors share a scene in which Rita attacks Trini in her bedroom, as glimpsed in the trailer. “It wasn’t acting,” Becky G laughed. “It was genuine fear of how real she looked and how committed she was to her character.”

During the panel, the cast — including Dacre Montgomery (Red Ranger Jason), Naomi Scott (Pink Ranger Kimberly), RJ Cyler (Blue Ranger Billy), and Ludi Lin (Black Ranger Zack) — likened the film to the superhero genre, especially Marvel and DC with “getting lost in these worlds created by these special effects with the kind of tech we have at the moment.”

A key ingredient to any superhero film is action. Becky G noted how the “stunt doubles went out of their way to develop our fighting styles,” which made it possible for them to do a lot of their own stunts. On Scott’s first day of stunt work, she said she “literally punched someone on the mouth and made them bleed — one of our stunt performers.” Though, that wasn’t even close to being the only bump or bruise.

As we discovered in the Comic Con posters, zords are coming, but it was important for Israelite to make the experience as real as possible for the actors. “It was like being in a crazy roller coaster for them,” he said, adding, “What’s really cool is that these guys are reacting in a real way…in a real suit, in a real cockpit.”

Lin said he has the final shot of the film, and he broke down in tears on set after departing the zord, signifying the end of the movie. “I had to walk away because I thought I was gonna start crying,” Israelite said.

Power Rangers will hit theaters on March 24, 2017.