Warning: possible spoilers ahead for Power Rangers. Read ahead at your own risk!
In the world of Power Rangers, there are a ton of fascinating villains with wonderfully complex personalities. Rita Repulsa is obviously the most iconic of the bunch, but for many fans of the series, Lord Zedd is the true big bad of the Mighty Morphin mythos. I recently spoke to Power Rangers director Dean Israelite about his rationale for picking which villains to use in the new reboot, and he admitted that he actually toyed with the idea of including Zedd in the film until he decided to keep the focus squarely on Elizabeth Banks's Rita. Israelite said:
There were long discussions about, 'Does Zedd make an appearance in this movie?' And how would we integrate him into that? Ultimately it just felt like too much for the real estate that we had, but there were great places to go with that.
In the long run, we have to applaud Dean Israelite for having the restraint to keep Zedd out of sight for now. The inclusion of too many villains is a trap that superhero movies have consistently fallen into since the days of Spider-Man 3, so it's commendable that Power Rangers went in the opposite direction and focused almost exclusively on Rita Repulsa. As most fans already know, Rita is a lackey for Zedd who incurs his wrath when she fails to defeat the Power Rangers during Season 1 of the series. He eventually takes over her operation on the moon, and the two begin a bizarre love affair. There's quite a bit of story potential there, but we're glad that the first film in this series kept Rita at the forefront and focused on fleshing out the heroes first.
Despite the fact that Lord Zedd doesn't actually make an appearance in Power Rangers, the film perfectly sets up his eventual introduction in a sequel. At the end of the movie, once the Rangers have properly defeated Rita Repulsa, the evil witch tells the young heroes that more villains will come to Earth in search of the Zeo Crystal. The film follows the basic Power Rangers mythology with considerable fidelity, so chronologically speaking that means Lord Zedd is next on deck.
That said, there are still plenty of other villains that the Power Rangers franchise could eventually adapt. If the next film in the franchise keeps Zedd waiting in the wings, we could still see someone like Scorpina or Ivan Ooze make an appearance. Who knows? Dean Israelite also told me that he would like to see a crossover with the DC universe at some point, so maybe we will see the teenagers with attitude face off against some Justice League villains at some point. The sky is the limit for this burgeoning franchise.
Power Rangers is now in theaters, so make sure to check it out! If you're on the lookout for more information related to this year's most highly anticipated theatrical debuts, then take a look at our movie premiere guide for more details related to the rest of 2017's major film releases.
