New 'Power Rangers' suits to 'grow' on heroes

WASHINGTON, May 5 (UPI) -- Power Rangers director Dean Israelite says the suits his new heroes will wear won't look like the spandex costumes worn by their 20th century predecessors.

Instead, he told Entertainment Weekly -- who released the first images of the costumes Thursday -- they are more of a representation of inner "metamorphosis," because they are grown instead of worn.

"These suits needed to feel like they were catalyzed by these kids and their energy, their spirit," Israelite said.

Production designer Andrew Menzies added it was "tricky" to find "a new language for a superhero costume."

"Ours is an alien costume that grows on them, that's not man-made," he said. "You can't win everyone over, but we are trying to appeal to a more mature audience and gain new fans."

The new Power Rangers cast will consist of singer Becky G as the Yellow Ranger, Ludi Lin as the Black Ranger, Dacre Montgomery as the Red Ranger, Naomi Scott as the Pink Ranger and RJ Cyler as the Blue Ranger.

The costumes are translucent and denotes thoughts of Marvel's Iron Man costume. But instead of steel, the new suits are to crystalize around the stars' bodies instead of fly to them when they're needed.

Power Rangers, out March 24, 2017, will also star Elizabeth Banks as the villain Rita Repulsa

"I've never played a villain before, let alone an alien warrior," Banks told People, who debuted the photo in April. "[I'm looking forward to] world domination -- and being unpredictable as a character," she said.