The full Power Rangers team is almost complete. After recently announcing relative newcomers Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, and Ludi Lin as the Red, Pink, and Black rangers respectively, Lionsgate today announced the actor who will be filling the role of the Blue Ranger, and it’s someone you may have heard of! If you caught the swell Sundance darling Me and Earl and the Dying Girl in theaters this summer (and judging by the box office, you probably didn’t), you know that RJ Cyler was the breakout actor from that talented young ensemble. Now, in his first big post-Me and Earl gig, Cyler has landed the role of the Blue Ranger in the new Power Rangers movie. This just leaves one major team role left to be cast, the Yellow Ranger.

Project Almanac filmmaker Dean Israelite is at the helm of the new movie, with X-Men: First Class screenwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz penning the script. We recently broke the news that the film will feature Scorpina as the primary antagonist and will fall in canon with the TV series, picking up directly after the events of the current TV iteration Power Rangers Dino Charge. So clearly this is a very different type of reboot for Lionsgate, and not one that's simply mining nostalgic gold by hinging on the 90s TV series fans. For more on the film’s timeline and opening scene, click here.

Power Rangers is slated for release on January 13, 2017.


Welcome #RJCyler to the team as the #BlueRanger in the upcoming @PowerRangersMovie! A photo posted by Power Rangers (@powerrangersmovie) on