by: S. Scott Stanikmas – Senior Staff Writer

90’s nostalgia is in full effect and we’ve got a new movie to prove it in the form of the updated Mighty Morphin Power Rangers film that’s forthcoming.

Recently EW sat down with director Dean Israelite to get the lowdown on the movie (which just recently started shooting). Not only did Israelite provide some interesting insights into the film but he also provided fans with a first look of the assembled team:

From left to right we’ve got R.J. Cyler as Billy (Blue Ranger), Naomi Scott as Kimberly (Pink Ranger), Ludi Lin as Zack (Black Ranger), Becky G as Trini (Yellow Ranger) and Dacre Montgomery as Jason (Red Ranger).

You might notice that they’ve done away with the racial color selection (i.e. the Asian isn’t the Yellow Ranger) and Dean Israelite said that the decision for that was done on purpose:

From the very beginning, diversity was a very important part of the whole process. We switched all of the races around, but we made sure that the essence of each of those characters are who they were in the original show, and this really will be an origin story of those characters.

Another big thing is the villain, Rita Repulsa. It was recently announced that actress/director Elizabeth Banks would bring the big bad to life and the director couldn’t be more thrilled to have her as part of his cast:

It’s very exciting that we got [Banks], and I think what she loves is the opportunity to really embrace the insanity and deliciousness of Rita Repulsa in terms of how weird and wonderful that character was, and really dive into and consume that character. You should always be off-balance when you’re watching her. Is she insane? Is she totally calculated? Does she know what she’s doing? Elizabeth can toe that line really well.

Fans might be a little bummed that we didn’t get to see the MMPR in their costumes, but you can’t expect the studio to shoot its whole wad when filming has only just begun. Israelite said that the costumes would “modern” and “edgy” while also maintaining a “metaphysical feel” to them.

While I wasn’t the biggest fan of this show when I was a kid I don’t remember it being a big part of kids’ (and adult toy collector’s) lives back in the day. If the story is good the people will come. We’ll find out when the film hits theaters March 24, 2017.