Courtesy Carla Perez
With her iconic hairdo, magical staff and a giant cone bra, Rita Repulsa had one of the most memorable villain costumes EVER.
On Tuesday, fans of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" got their first look at the sorceress' makeover for the upcoming Lionsgate film -- and were shocked by how different she looked!
In the pic, star Elizabeth Banks sports green, reptilian armor, a sleek ponytail and golden claws. This rebooted Rita also rocks some new facial prosthetics reminiscent of Angelina Jolie's Maleficent and Lady Gaga in the "Born This Way" music video.
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"It's definitely a modern and edgy re-imagining of the original Rita Repulsa," Banks tells PEOPLE of the look. "We wanted to give her a backstory that connects her to the new Rangers."
toofab tracked down Carla Perez, who played the villainess after the OG Rita, Machiko Soga, where she answered some of our burning questions about the redesign. See her incredibly candid reaction in the video below!
That face kind of says it all, doesn't it?
"It's green! Where's the Rita in it?," she says of her initial reaction to the photo. "I was thinking, the colors, there's no Rita in it. I don't see Rita. Don't get me wrong, the dress was nice, the costume was nice, it was so detailed and form fitting and sexy. I would love a dress like that, but it just was not Rita, right?"
Perez has a pretty interesting theory as to why Banks' costume looks the way it does though -- and we think she's onto something.
"My daughter was saying, 'That dress reminds me of the Green Ranger,'" she explains. "I think that's the dress she's gonna have on when she transforms it onto the evil green ranger when we're introduced to him ... and she's gonna come out with a new dress. The other dress will be revamped Rita dress everyone's been hoping to see."
On the original series, Rita is the one who gives Tommy his powers, making him the Green Ranger. The character of Tommy is MIA from the film so far, but that doesn't mean he won't be a surprise addition to the flick.
Perez tells us she loves the idea of Banks in the role, complimenting her work as Effie in "The Hunger Games" franchise. "That character was similar to Rita, kinda out there and humorous," explains Carla. "She's gonna take Rita in another direction and I can't wait to see what she does with her!"
As for why we aren't seeing that classic 'do, Carla says, "I'm sure it's for many reasons, but the number one reason is probably because they're doing a different costume and they want to go in the same direction. To leave it would not fit the look of the new costume. They have to modernize it and revamp it and make it more sexy to fit the costume."
Check out the video below to see what she thinks about criticism that the look is "too sexy" and her special message to "Power Ranger" fans.
We'll see how Rita looks on the big screen when "Power Rangers" hits theaters March 2017.
Get a look at the other Rangers now in the gallery above!
