First Power Rangers poster lands

UPDATE: To back up news of Bryan Cranston's casting, Power Rangers now has a first poster to help flog its wares. See, that's the power of Cranston.

ORIGINAL STORY: Having long retired his meth business, Bryan Cranston is now looking to move into the morph business. The award-winning Breaking Bad actor has just signed up to star in the movie reboot of 1990s fantasy sci-fi TV show Power Rangers.

Cranston will play Zordon, the guardian and mentor of the alien-battling team who exists as a disembodied head in a sort of floaty bubble tube thing.

Power Rangers completists – and there are some of you out there, we’re sure – will chuckle knowingly at this casting news, for Cranston is no stranger to the franchise. As a jobbing young actor, he voiced several characters on the show{ =nofollow}, including Twinman and – who can forget? – Snizzard. Such was his influence on the show that the original Blue Ranger was named Billy Cranston in his honour.

Cranston joins Elizabeth Banks in the cast, who play the villainous Rita Repulsa, plus five relative newcomers (RJ Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin, Naomi Scott and Dacre Montgomery) as the eponymous Rangers.

Dean Israelite (Project Almanac) is directing Power Rangers, which is aiming for a March 2017 release date.