A new full-length trailer for the upcoming "Power Rangers" reboot gives audiences their first look at the new Rangers transforming into their hero selves, as well as sneak peeks of familiar characters like robot sidekick Alpha 5 (voiced by Bill Hader) and Ranger mentor Zordon (Bryan Cranston).

It's the latter character who's of most interest, since Cranston's casting was a bit of a head-scratcher at the time it was announced. What was the award-winning Oscar nominee doing in a reboot of a silly kids' TV series? It turns out that the actor was quite impressed by the script, particularly its handling of teenage issues like bullying, and compared its transformation from campy television show to serious big-screen feature to that of another superhero series, "The Dark Knight."Though we're not necessarily getting "Dark Knight" vibes from this trailer, it does have a decidedly different mood from past "Power Rangers" projects we've seen, and Cranston's presence adds some gravitas to the proceedings. His version of Zordon can probably best be described as "anthropomorphic screen," and though that sounds pretty odd, it does look pretty cool in action (and light-years more advanced than the giant blue floating head used in the '90s TV version).

The "dark and gritty" trend has been done to death (a fan-made short film even tried this tactic before with "Power Rangers," with surprisingly successful results), but this flick looks like it has potential to be more than just another reboot for the sake of reboot. We'll remain cautiously optimistic for now.

"Power Rangers" is due in theaters on March 24.