The Preface: "Long ago, the ancient wizard Zordon did battle with the evil witch Rita Repulsa. After long years of battle, he managed to defeat her by using five magic coins. As punishment for her loss, she was sealed in a canister on the Earth's moon. However, before being sealed away, Rita trapped Zordon in a time warp, preventing him from participating in further battle against her. 10,000 years later, Rita and her minions escaped their prison thanks to two unsuspecting astronauts, and set out to conquer Earth. Zordon, desperate to stop her, had his assistant Alpha 5 recruit five "teenagers with attitude" to do battle against her. They were granted the powers of prehistoric animals, and became Power Rangers."
The opening of the movie would be very similar to the opening of the film Thor, beginning with a voice over by Zordon. It would show him and Rita battling and Zordon's use of the five coins. We would also see Rita, Goldar and Finster being put away in the canister on the moon as well as Zordon being trapped in the time warp back on Earth. This would also show the construction of Alpha 5 and Rita's release which would be followed by the movie title: POWER RANGERS.
Director Will Gluck This new Power Rangers movie needs to be quirky, funny and original. Those are three things Will Gluck succeeds at. Although he only has three movies under his belt (Fired Up, Easy-A and Friends With Benefits), two of those movies are way better and original than they should have been. With Easy-A, Gluck proved he understood teenage angst and how to turn a somewhat normal idea into an original high school film. With Friends With Benefits he proved that he could direct more adult related issues but with the same quirkiness and camaraderie that one wouldn't expect in a movie about friends who decide to sleep together. If your worried about his experience with Special Effects, I would like to use Thor and The Avengers as examples. Kenneth Branagh hadn't directed a film with special effects before but he understood relationship and characters so Marvel took care of the Special FX in Thor for him. A similar situation happened with Joss Whedon directing the Avengers. The story has to come first. If Gluck were to direct a Power Rangers movie I know we would get a solid script and great interactions with many funny moments. I will take that over a film with great special FX but crappy screenplay any day.
The Cast: Taylor Lautner as Jason Scott Ranger Color: Red
Zord: Tyrannosaurus
Weapon: Power Sword
Profile: Jason is the captain and starting strong safety for the Angel Grove High School Football team. He is athletic, popular and smart. He has a minor cocky side but is overall a genuinely nice guy.
Yes, the Twilight kid! Hear me out everyone. Lautner is not a great actor by any means, this I know. He became too popular at too young a age and now is being typecast in things like "Grown Ups 2". Here are the reasons he is perfect to lead the new Power Rangers team:
1) He has a martial arts background. No seriously, he has won tournaments.
2) He has a huge following. Let's face it, current teenagers may not even know what a Power Ranger is. The cast needs a face that will bring the younger crowd to theaters. Lautner is perfect for that.
3) He doesn't seem to have any interest in doing indie films and becoming a serious actor. This means he needs roles like "the Red Ranger" to continue his career.
John Boyega as Zack Muderwah Ranger Color: Black
Zord: Mastadon
Weapon: Power Axe
Profile: Zack is an exchange student and starting Running Back for the Angel Grove High School football team. He is kind and reserved but intense and powerful when he needs to be. Everyone likes him. His birth name is much different and longer than Zack but we find out many people in his class couldn't pronounce it so he shortened it.
If you have seen the great film Attack the Block then I shouldn't have to say much to describe why Boyega is a perfect fit for Zack. Boyega is young, raw, talented and physically gifted (he trained to play a young Mike Tyson before HBO passed on the Spike Lee directed mini-series). Check out the interview/clips of Boyega that proves why he would be the ideal choice for Zack.
Jack O'Connell as Tommy Oliver Ranger Color: Green
Zord: Dragon
Weapon: Dragon Dagger
Profile: Tommy is a transfer student from the UK and appears at Angel Grove shortly after the teens become Rangers. He is a loner who has a knack for getting into trouble and fights. Right off the bat he butts heads with Jason over Kimberly. Rita puts a spell on Tommy early on to combat the Rangers. After he is defeated he joins with them before the halfway point of the movie. This is where Zordon grants him his own Dragon Zord.
If you are unaware of who Jack O'Connell is then you must watch a few episodes of season 3 of Skins. You will see that he has the acting chops to carry a movie on his own and it is a surprise that he hasn't yet. O'Connell would play a different type of Tommy than the one Jason David Frank played on TV. This Tommy is a rebel. His place on the team is similar to Raphael of the Ninja Turtles but with more of a leadership role that he would share with Jason. The clip below is just a small dose of what Jack O'Connell can bring to the table.
Willa Holland as Kimberly Hart Ranger Color: Pink
Zord: Pterodactyl
Weapon: Power Bow
Profile: Kim aka Kimberly is a cheerleader for Angel Grove. She pretends to only be interested in guys and cheerleading but secretly has strong desires to go to college to become a pilot. She is interested in both Jason and Tommy at different points during the film but ultimately decides not to pursue either as she believes it will hurt the Power Rangers team.
I first saw Willa Holland in the film Legion. Although it is not a great film, she stood out as a bright spot. She has a very young look proving she could play a High Schooler for a few more years. She may seem a little frail to play someone that kicks butt when not attending class but a few months in the gym can change that.
Dev Patel as Animesh Patel Ranger Color: Blue
Zord: Triceratops
Weapon: Power Lance
Profile: Animesh is the smartest student at Angel Grove High School. He is very technical and spends most of his time in the computer lab as he has already completed most of his classes. He has a crush on Zoe that he tries to not let anyone know about. He attends her Yoga classes because of this.
Dev Patel might seem a little old to be playing a High Schooler but he is still fairly young. Another veteran from the Skins series, Patel would be able to step into the role of Animesh very easily. It's hard not to imagine him teaming up with Alpha 5 on a technical problem just like David Yost constantly did on the TV show.
Victoria Justice as Zoe Beltran Ranger Color: Yellow
Zord: Sabretooth Tiger
Weapon: Power Daggers
Profile: The shy, smart and environmentally friendly member of the team that is always the calming influence. She teaches Yoga at Angel Grove and has a building relationship with Animesh, who she is unaware has a crush on her.
I atually haven't seen much of Victoria Justice other than a trailer for her new movie but she seems like she can carry a role and has been in TV/movies since a young age. She has the second largest fan base of the group next to Taylor Lautner.
Sean Bean as Zordon Profile:Since we will be seeing Zordon as a normal being at the beginning of the film and possibly in flashbacks, I needed someone that was a veteran at playing rich characters from different time periods who also had a voice that commanded you to listen when he spoke. Sean Bean fits that description to a T.
Christina Hendricks as Rita Repulsa Rita in the television show was a screeching, annoying villainess. I do not see a similar character type working as the main antagonist of a 21st century Power Rangers movie. This is why I chose the great Christina Hendricks. She would play Rita as a seductress with intensity. When the film opens with her and Zordon 10,000 years prior, you see that she uses her looks and magic as her main weapons. This will also come into play when she brainwashes Tommy in the film. He would see her as a cougar-esque women and before he knows it she is in his head. Side note: As you can see from the above photo there will be no need to bring back the cone-chested Rita.
Seth Green as Alpha 5 (voice) Profile: Seth Green is a veteran at voicing characters whether it is in Family Guy or Robot Chicken. He would be great as the voice of Alpha 5. I can already picture him dropping "Ay-yi-yi!".
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson as Goldar Profile: A physically imposing enemy of the Rangers. No two Rangers can take down Goldar in hand to hand combat. A fight between Goldar and the putties about 2/3 through the movie make the Rangers wonder if they can truly be up to the task of sacrificing their lives/bodies at a young age. Rampage Jackson couldn't be a more perfect fit for Goldar IMO. He has amazing fighting skills and he has a deep, resonating voice that's actually similar to the TV version Goldar.
Wayne Knight as Finster: Profile:Where Goldar was always the muscle for Rita, Finster was always the brains. Knight was one of the most recognizable actors of the 90's and this would be a great opportunity to have a little comeback. Finsters role in the film would consist of giving Rita decent advice and conjuring up the monster the Rangers have to battle at the climax of the film (where we see the Mega Zord for the first time).
Sean Marquette and Matt Bush as Bulk and Skull If you have seen the recent indie hit High School than you know that these two have great chemistry and would be great fits as Bulk and Skull. In this new film Bulk and Skull would be two stoners who run an internet blog. They will always seem to be close to the action of the Rangers, getting more and more suspicious of the six teens. They would provide much of the comic relief of the film, especially during the climax when they are running around screaming, filming the Mega Zord fight Rita's monster in the middle of Angel Grove.
Sorry no Squatt or Baboo. Too little time to introduce two characters that were used in the show as minor comic relief.
Zords Zords stay the same as far as which prehistoric animal they are. They would have to be as unlike Transformers and the Jaegers from Pacific Rim as possible. Definitely a difficult task. The best way to do this would have them be closer to the size of the smaller transformers (Bumblebee, Sideswipe etc.) but with the piloting idea similar to Pacific Rim where the Zord acts based on what your mind tells it to do. They should also be less clunky-metal like and more a mix of materials (metal, rubber, stainless steel, fiberglass etc.).
When they come together to make the Megazord we would get to see the pathway each Ranger takes to the control room where they all join together instead of having to imagine it. Since the concept is such a farfetched idea in the first place, the film would have to win new fans over by being extremely technical and well planned out when it comes to the Zords. The first time we see the Mega Zord come together should top the first time audiences saw the opening of Transformers when Blackout lands and transforms.
Additional Story Details The following are scene ideas that popped in my head while thinking of the fan cast:
Tommy run in with thugs - Tommy would first be introduced at his first day of school at Angel High but his second scene would be very entertaining. I pictured him being cornered in an ally by some local thugs trying to pick on the new guy. Tommy would tmix in some hooligan-style fighting with parkour-esque maneuvers to escape. This would get Rita's attention to choose him as the teen she wants to go up against the new Rangers.
Zack being named the Black Ranger - When Zordon introduces the Rangers to their suits and Zords, he gives a run down as to why he matched everyone up with their color. The moment Zordon says "Zack, you are the Black Ranger", Zack would roll his eyes and have a look that said "of course I am the one that gets named the BLACK ranger".
Football Scene - One of the first scenes to introduce Jason, Zack and Kimberly would be a football game. Instead of Jason being the cliche Quarterback, he would be playing strong safety: A position that requires strength, speed, strong hand eye coordination and physical prowess. We would see Jason leaping over blockers, making tackles and interceptions. After Jason's montage the movie would cut to Zack at running back, getting handoffs, running people over, juking, spin moves etc. At the same time the movie would cut to Kimberly doing advanced cheerleader flips and maneuvers.
Yoga Scene - This would be an early scene showing Animesh's infatuation with Zoe. Zoe would be running the Yoga class while Animesh would be attending for his first time. He would have problems with his Yoga mat and ask stupid questions. This gives Dev Patel the opportunity to use physical and unscripted comedy to get people laughing early on.
Suits The rangers would need updated uniforms/suits for a new film. Many previous fan casts think they should go the more robotic, armored look but I disagree. I think the suits should be similar to the newest Superman: Man of Steel suit that Henry Cavill will be wearing. A thick, spandex type material with interlocking helmets, utility belts and harnesses would be very different and interesting.
Well there you go folks. I doubt many of you made it through the whole fan fic but I appreciate anyone who took a few minutes out of their day to read this. I am a 90's kid who grew up worshiping the Power Rangers and couldn't help but get a little nostalgia out by creating this.