Lionsgate's reboot of Power Rangers is undoubtedly going to be heavy on nostalgia for the 1990s era of the franchise, but that's not to say it won't be doing new things with the incredibly long-running series.

We've already seen that a lot of classic elements being brought into the film have been altered, best shown in the organic costumes and redesigned Zords the team will eventually pilot. Although that's nothing on Rita Repulsa, with Elizabeth Banks' version of the villain looking absolutely nothing like the original. Her costume design was so different it led to speculation that this Rita was actually a former Green Ranger gone bad, and it's since been suggested that she's not the only major character with a secret past; a popular fan theory is that Zordon, the Rangers' mentor played in the film by Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, was the original Red Ranger.

The theory has been given weight by an Instagram post from Andrew Gray, the Red Ranger in 2013's Power Rangers Megaforce, which shows a signed copy of Bryan Cranston's book A Life In Parts with the message "To Andrew, Happy Birthday! To a Power Ranger, from a Power Ranger. Be well. – Bryan Cranston, 2017." The post has since been deleted but was caught by Power Rangers Now.

The basic idea of the theory is that thousands of years ago Green Ranger Repulsa went bad and vaporized their leader, Zordon, into his current disembodied-face form. The wording of Cranston's message would indeed seem to suggest he is more than just an advisor and playing a character who was - at one point - a Ranger.

While it definitely deviates from the established mythology, having this reveal would give some much-needed weight to the reboot, introducing some complex inter-character relationships; most of the advertising for the film has thus far focused on the new generation, but it would be rather fitting for their first adventure to have them dealing with the failures of their teacher. It would also explain Cranston's enthusiasm for the project - this is the sort of meat an actor can have fun with.

Of course, it's possible that Cranston was just being cute with his message - especially as the Blue Ranger, Billy Cranston, is named after him - although that the original post has been deleted would suggest otherwise. Even if this theory is proven true, there's sure to be a lot of surprises in Dean Israelite's reboot, which is still a rather mysterious prospect despite being only a couple of months away from release.

Next: Power Rangers Perfect the Superhero Landing in New Image

Source: Power Rangers Now