She crawled out of a fishing net covered in gold and grime. Honestly, that was the moment we knew this wasn't your 1993 Saturday morning cartoon. When the first images of Elizabeth Banks surfaced for the Power Rangers movie 2017 Rita Repulsa reimagining, the internet basically had a collective meltdown because she didn't have the giant "ox horn" hair or the cone chest piece. People were mad. But looking back on it now, that version of Rita was probably the most interesting thing to happen to the franchise in decades.
It was weird.
The 2017 film, directed by Dean Israelite, tried to do something incredibly difficult: it tried to make a story about multicolored teenagers in spandex feel grounded. To do that, they needed a villain who felt like a legitimate threat rather than a campy space witch who gets a headache every time she loses. By casting Banks and giving her a backstory tied directly to the Rangers' legacy, they raised the stakes. She wasn't just some random invader. She was a fallen Ranger. That change alone carries more weight than twenty seasons of the original show's lore.
Why the Power Rangers movie 2017 Rita Repulsa backstory changed everything
In the original Mighty Morphin continuity, Rita is an intergalactic sorceress trapped in a space dumpster for ten thousand years. Simple. Classic. But the 2017 film decided to get gritty. Here, Rita was the original Green Ranger. She betrayed her team—led by Zordon, played by Bryan Cranston—because she wanted the power of the Zeo Crystal for herself.
Think about that for a second.
When she's hunting down the new kids in Angel Grove, she isn't just looking for world domination. She’s looking for her "rightful" place. She sees the new Rangers as pretenders. There's a scene where she confronts Trini (the Yellow Ranger) in her bedroom, and it's genuinely unsettling. Banks plays it with this predatory, feline energy. She’s whispering, mocking them, and eating gold jewelry to rebuild her body. It’s gross. It’s tactile. It feels like a horror movie crept into a superhero flick.
🔗 Read more: Jack Blocker American Idol Journey: What Most People Get Wrong
The suit itself was a massive departure. Instead of the flowing robes of Machiko Soga or Carla Perez, Banks wore a tattered, green, crystalline armor that looked like it was growing out of her skin. It was a literal manifestation of her corruption. Fans pointed out that it looked a lot like a decayed version of the modern Ranger suits, which was the point. It was visual storytelling that actually rewarded you for paying attention. If she was the former Green Ranger, her "suit" should look like a corrupted version of what the kids were wearing.
The Elizabeth Banks performance: Camp vs. Menace
Banks clearly had the time of her life. You can tell.
She balances on this razor-thin line between being absolutely terrifying and being "extra." There’s a scene where she’s wandering through a jewelry store, casually killing people while she munches on gold necklaces like they’re popcorn. It’s ridiculous, but she sells it with such conviction that you kind of go along with it. Most blockbuster villains today are either brooding "misunderstood" types or generic CGI blobs. Rita was a person with a personality—albeit a psychotic one.
She brought a physical intensity that the franchise usually lacks. She wasn't just standing on a moon palace pointing a wand; she was on the ground, getting her hands dirty. When she finally summons Goldar—who, admittedly, looked more like a giant melted candle than the winged manticore we remember—the scale of her threat feels earned because we've seen her manipulate her way there from a literal corpse in a net.
Differences that actually mattered:
- Motivation: In 2017, she wanted the Zeo Crystal to create life (and destroy it), not just conquer Earth because it was there.
- The Green Power Coin: It was her life source, literally embedded in her staff.
- Combat: She actually fought the Rangers hand-to-hand before the Zord battle.
- Connection to Zordon: Their rivalry was personal, a betrayal of comrades rather than just "good guy vs. bad guy."
The film didn't perform well enough to warrant the sequel everyone expected. That’s a shame, honestly. The post-credits scene teased Tommy Oliver, and we all know where that was going. Rita was supposed to be the one to pass on or lose that Green Coin to a new student. We missed out on seeing Banks interact with a brainwashed Tommy, which probably would have been cinematic gold.
💡 You might also like: Why American Beauty by the Grateful Dead is Still the Gold Standard of Americana
The Goldar problem and the final act
If there is one place where the Power Rangers movie 2017 Rita arc stumbled, it was the climax. Goldar. In the original show, Goldar was a character. He had a voice, a personality, and a weirdly loyal yet frustrated relationship with Rita. In the 2017 movie, Goldar is just a voiceless, faceless mass of molten gold.
It took away from Rita’s agency.
Instead of commanding a general, she was basically piloting a giant drone. It turned the final fight into a standard "giant robots hitting a giant monster" sequence that lost the personal tension established in the first two acts. When Rita is eventually slapped into space by the Megazord (literally, they bitch-slap her into orbit), it feels a bit sudden. However, the image of her frozen in space, clutching her coin and drifting toward the moon, was a perfect nod to her eventually ending up in that famous dumpster.
Practical takeaways for fans and collectors
If you're revisiting the film or you're a collector, the 2017 version of Rita has actually become a bit of a cult favorite in the toy community. Because the design was so intricate, the action figures—specifically the ones from the Power Rangers Legacy Collection—actually hold up better than the movie’s CGI does.
For those looking to understand the lore better, you have to look at the BOOM! Studios comics. While they mostly focus on the original show's timeline, they've occasionally toyed with the idea of "fallen Rangers," clearly taking a page out of the 2017 film's playbook.
📖 Related: Why October London Make Me Wanna Is the Soul Revival We Actually Needed
To get the most out of the 2017 experience now:
- Watch the "reawakening" scene again. Pay attention to the sound design. The way she moves is meant to mimic a creature that has forgotten how to be human.
- Compare her to "Green Ranger Shredder" in the crossovers. You’ll see the influence of the "corrupted Ranger" aesthetic everywhere now.
- Look for the easter eggs. In Rita's lair (the old ship), there are several nods to the wider Grid that suggest she knew much more about the universe than Zordon ever let on.
The 2017 movie wasn't perfect, but it gave us a villain who was more than a caricature. Elizabeth Banks' Rita Repulsa was a desperate, powerful, and deeply bitter warrior who felt like a genuine shadow of what the Power Rangers could become if they lost their way. She didn't just want to rule the world; she wanted to prove that Zordon’s philosophy was a lie. That’s a lot of depth for a movie about teenagers in dinosaur robots.
If you're looking to dive deeper into the design process of this specific version of the character, seeking out the "Power Rangers: The Art of the Movie" book is a solid move. It contains the original concept sketches that show just how much more "alien" she could have looked. Some early designs had her looking almost translucent. It’s a fascinating look at a high-budget reimagining that deserved a bit more love than it got at the box office.
Whether you're a die-hard fan of the original or a newcomer, the 2017 Rita stands as a bold experiment in how to modernize a campy icon without losing the soul of the character. She was mean, she was green, and she was easily the best part of that reboot. It's worth a rewatch just to see Banks chew the scenery one more time.