As we approach the return of San Diego Comic-Con, we also look ahead to some of this year's (and 2017's) most anticipated releases. One of them is surely Dean Israelite's Power Rangers adaptation, a feature that looks to put the long-running action franchise back on the big screen and under a big spotlight. The Lionsgate film has already made solid decisions with their casting, landing veteran actor Bryan Cranston as Zordon to lead a team of relative newcomers. And on the villainous side of things, Elizabeth Banks makes for a stunning new version of Rita Repulsa.

It's to that iconic villain we look today as a new image from the Power Rangers movie has emerged. It features Banks in sharp relief as the wicked-looking Rita, who is taking Trini (Becky G) to task. The youngest actor in the cast at 19, Becky G also talks at length about working opposite Banks, the film's upcoming reshoot schedule, and her anticipation for her first-ever Comic-Con.


Image via Lionsgate[/caption]

Here's Becky G's commentary on the fight captured by the image above along with some behind-the-scenes context:

BECKY G: Rita tries to make Trini feel like she’s the weakest link of the Power Rangers, and she feels it’s easiest to go for her. Rita’s the type to play a lot of mind games, and Trini’s [thinking], “Can I really overpower Rita Repulsa or can I not?”

 

When we did our blocking, our run through, Elizabeth and I really wanted& to make it fun, to make this scene as real as possible. Actually, I got to run through the wall a couple of times. I got thrown up against it and I got to break it myself. My stunt double of course was there, talking me through it, but I was really, really excited. It was a bit intimidating for me because, you know, it’s Elizabeth! I look up to her a lot as an actress, so getting to work one on one with her is really cool. I learned a lot, and there were moments when I had to hit her, and I was like, “Oh my God, I hope I don’t actually hit her!” She really let me be hands on in a lot of the fighting, so it was cool.

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Image via Lionsgate

Even at first glance, those costumes - Rita's and the Rangers' themselves - don't seem all that easy to move around in. Becky G reveals what it was like on set during action scenes:

Elizabeth went in in costume in the entire movie, and, you know, even for us in our Power Rangers suits, they’re not the most comfortable [to fight in], so to have to do action scenes in a costume, it’s pretty brutal. She chokes me and throws me up against a wall, and I actually told her, “Don’t be afraid to put pressure on my neck.” [Laughs] Little did I know the next day I’d actually have bruises and feel a little sore.

You can read more from Becky G and her time interacting with Banks on set over at EW, but those attending Comic-Con might get a chance to see more from the movie before its March 24, 2017 debut. At the very least, Becky G will be in attendance:

We’re done with the majority of filming now. We have some reshoots coming up which I’m excited for, because I’ll get to see everybody again. We have Comic-Con before that, which is even more exciting because it’ll be my first time ever ... Little did I know I would be going as an official Power Ranger. [Laughs]

 

... There’s so many people in costume and so many die-hard fans, and I’m more excited to meet the Power Rangers fanatics and learning more about what I’m doing. I was a fan growing up, but it’s still, like, a whole new world to be able to share this new insight with the new and old Power Rangers fans. [My castmates and I] have our little Power Rangers WhatsApp group chat, because we’re all in different parts of the world. You’ve got Ludi [Lin, who plays the Black Ranger] in China, you’ve got Dacre [Montgomery, who plays the Red Ranger] in Australia, and Naomi [Scott, who plays the Pink Ranger] in the U.K. RJ [Cyler, who plays the Blue Ranger] and I are the only ones who live in L.A., so he came by to visit me in the studio. We’re all really looking forward to going. From what I hear, it’s like going to a whole other world.


Image via Saban Entertainment[/caption]

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Image via Lionsgate

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