New Images From Set of Power Rangers Provides Insight on Red Ranger And Mystery Foes

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Since we heard of the new Power Rangers movie rebooting the long-standing franchise, fans have been anticipating and speculating on how the original television program "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" will translate into a blockbuster film. Now, there were a few attempts to cinematic adaptations of the Power Rangers in the past, but they were never intended to hit such a large demographic. The same can't be said of Dean Israelite's vision for Power Rangers (2017).

First images of Dacre Montgomery in full Ranger suit.

The new iteration of the Power Rangers will premiere sometime next year. But until then, we have a lot to discuss, in regards to production status and set photos. The most recent group of set photos released from the set of Power Rangers, depicts Dacre Montgomery fully suited up in his Red Ranger suit, going into battle against some actors in motion-capture suits. It's hard to tell exactly who the Red Ranger is fighting, seeing is how his opponents are in motion-capture suits. But if the history of relevant characters in the Power Rangers franchise can give us any indication of who these mystery foes are, we can go back to the original series "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" to identify who Jason (Dacre Montgomery) is fighting in the new set photos. Images provided courtesy of YVR Shoots and Twitter handle @YVRShoots .

(YVR Shoots are known for their first hand glimpses of filming underway in Steveston, Canada and Vancouver, British Columbia. YVR Shoots are also very well known for their coverage of filming shoots from all over the country, including the television series of "Once Upon A Time" and "Lucifer". Their most recent coverage piece has them on the set of the "Prison Break" revival which began filming earlier this week in New York.)

From what we can see in the set photo of the Red Ranger (Dacre Montgomery) fighting these adversaries, the surrounding destruction in the area could implicate multiple foes not seen in the image. These two unidentified characters seen alongside of the Red Ranger could be accompanied by a troop or army behind them. It's not likely that these two are capable of all that destruction. That is, unless these two unidentified individuals happen to be pivotal characters in the upcoming reboot of Power Rangers instead of digitally created henchmen working for Rita Repulsa. The motion capture suits are likely to be adding full body effects to their characters, but we don't know how they'll look on-screen. There is quite a bit of mystery surrounding these individuals, as they are also the first opponents for the Rangers to go up against, as the Red Ranger is taking care of them on his own. The other Power Rangers aren't seen anywhere around, and haven't been seen in costume on set yet either. That could mean this point in the film might introduce the Red Ranger as a solo crime fighter until he requires the help of other Rangers to defeat Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks).

Who is the Red Ranger fighting in these set photos?

Apart from finally getting our first image of a Ranger in full costume, there's still the matter of the mystery adversaries present during the scene. Since the reboot of Power Rangers will be based off of the original children's program of "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers", it's reasonable to assume that these actors in motion-capture gear seen side by side with Dacre Montgomery are going to portray a type of henchmen from the original series. And that just could be the Putty Patrollers.

Could these motion-capture actors be portraying the Putty Patrollers?

In the original Power Rangers television program, the Putty Patrollers were the henchmen of Rita Repulsa. She was able to create any number of henchmen by turning clay figures through her machine which would produce life-size versions of the clay figures created, thus creating the Putty Patrollers. The Putty Patrollers or the 'Putties' were utilized in almost every instance of the Power Rangers fighting the evil Rita Repulsa. Rita always had more than a handful of Putties to enforce her mayhem, she also created new monsters in almost every episode of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." The Putties would be used as reinforcement to the new monster of the week. Seeing is how the fight would seem unbalanced if the group of five Power Rangers only had one adversary to contend with every week, it wouldn't appear like they're in any danger. But including the Putties as the muscle behind the monster of the week definitely put a damper in the Power Rangers action.

In the scenario that the mystery characters in motion capture suits, seen on the set of Power Rangers (2017) are in fact the Putty Patrollers, that opens up the potential for more villains of the original Power Rangers series to have cinematic adaptations as well. Going along with the theory of the Putty Patrollers being introduced, there'll likely be an even more influential villain of the Power Rangers universe accompanying Rita Repulsa in the new reboot. That of the golden gargoyle, Goldar. Goldar was well known as one of Rita Repulsa's first henchmen. He's been responsible for wreaking havoc on the Power Rangers on multiple occasions, including, influencing Tommy (Jason David Frank) to become a corrupted Green Power Ranger. That would eventually lead to Tommy being a full-fledged Power Ranger in the universe, but it doesn't take anything away from the excellent degree of villainy expressed by Goldar in the original "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" program.

Another image from the set of Power Rangers may have provided the evidence to back up the theory of 'Goldar' having a presence in the film. It's speculative, but check out the image for yourself, and decide if the crew member holding up that piece of material doesn't resemble an arm or claw that could belong to Goldar.

How another element of the Power Rangers universe could play into the new film.

Back to the motion-capture actors on set. On the offhand chance that these individuals in motion-capture suits aren't that of the Putty Patrollers, director of the film, Dean Israelite, may be planning to use a more sinister group of henchmen pulled from the Power Rangers universe, but it may not be what you expect. It's more plausible to believe that Israelite will only be utilizing elements from the original Power Rangers series in his adaptation of the Power Rangers next year, meaning the likelihood of the Putty Patrollers being used. But there's always a possibility that he may be utilizing an element from one of the future seasons of the 'Power Rangers', specifically the season of "Power Rangers In Space".

Could the 'Psycho Rangers' be Rita Repulsa's henchmen in the new film.

In the season of "Power Rangers in Space", the Earth-bound Rangers venture into space to uncover a new source of power, seeing is how they've became powerless after the last season's finale. Once they're granted new extraterrestrial suits, they are Power Rangers again. And once the Power Rangers began on their interstellar journey, there was no shortage of villains showing up unannounced. One group of villains introduced during "Power Rangers in Space" were the Psycho Rangers. During their introduction to the Power Rangers universe, they made quite a big problem for the Power Rangers. From infiltrating their spaceship to masquerading as one of their own, the Psycho Rangers tore the Power Rangers apart from the inside out. As well as physically dominating the team of Power Rangers on multiple occasions. The Psycho Rangers seemed to be better than the team of Power Rangers in every way, until their defeat came around. But it was quite some time before the Power Rangers were capable of taking down the entire team of Psycho Rangers.

Apart from the history of the Psycho Rangers in the Power Rangers' universe, they may be utilized again in the upcoming reboot of Power Rangers (2017). Going back to the scenario in which the motion-capture actors currently on the set of Power Rangers not being that of the Putty Patrollers, we could easily place the Psycho Rangers in the role of these unidentifiable characters on set. It may seem like a stretch for the Psycho Rangers to have a part in the film, but a popular theory making the rounds online indicated that the Power Rangers biggest adversary in the new reboot would be that of the Psycho Rangers. That in itself sparked a mass of talk among fans, some agreeing with the notion of Psycho Rangers being introduced while others immediately refuted that claim due to the belief of only concepts from the original "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" being utilized in the new film. Both claims may are unsubstantiated at this time, but it's possible to place the Psycho Rangers in a potential role in the film now, seeing is how we have multiple actors in motion-capture gear fighting with the Red Ranger (Dacre Montgomery) on set.

Could these motion-capture characters be an all-new creation to the Power Rangers' universe?

Although, either theory of the Putty Patrollers or the Psycho Rangers being introduced in the film may be incorrect. The direction of the film could reasonably be taken in a different direction, wherein a new group of henchmen are working for Rita Repulsa, apart from the suspected Putty Patrollers. We've already seen Elizabeth Banks on set as Rita Repulsa, and the difference between her appearance and that of the original Rita Repulsa differs quite a sum. Accounting for the notable difference in costume attire, the henchmen of either the 'Putty Patrollers' or the 'Psycho Rangers' could be revamped to fit into the current theme of the new film. Which could see these guys in motion-capture gear as all new creations in the Power Rangers universe. However, that's all speculative for the moment.

What isn't speculative for the moment, is the fact that Dacre Montgomery a.k.a. the Red Rangers, is the first Power Ranger to be seen on set in full Ranger attire. There haven't been any confirmed sightings of any other cast members in costume which may imply that Dacre Montgomery's character of Jason Lee Scott is the first to receive his Ranger suit in the film. That being said, the other Power Rangers may be present elsewhere and just not visible during this scene. As well as the possibility of the other Power Rangers portrayed by Ludi Lin, RJ Cyler, Becky Gomez, and Naomi Scott being set to film in their full Power Ranger costumes, in the coming weeks.

Power Rangers premieres June 24, 2017, directed by Dean Israelite, written by John Gatins and Max Landis. Starring Dacre Montgomery, Becky Gomez, Ludi Lin, RJ Cyler, Elizabeth Banks, Naomi Scott, David Denman, and Lisa Berry.

Original series of "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" was created by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy.