Michael Bay is rebooting the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle franchise and he dropped a bomb at the Nickelodeon Upfront in New York stating they would be an “Alien Race” - because Michael Bay wants to ruin everyones childhood.
“When you see this movie, kids will believe one day that these turtles do exist, when we’re done with this movie. These turtles are from an alien race, and they’re going to be tough, edgy, funny, and completely lovable.” - Michael Bay
Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles? You’re just going to go and change the whole origin?
Now, before anyone metaphorically (or semi-literally) explodes over Bay’s statement, don’t forget: going back to their comic book roots, the traditional backstory for the Turtles is that they were regular… well, turtles, who changed after being exposed to a radioactive substance. It’s a pretty ridiculous setup for even a comics series that started out as a satirical imitation of Frank Miller’s brutally grim and violent Ronin/Elektra comics – but eventually gave rise to a beloved property that stands on its own.
So, here’s the million dollar question: does having the Turtles simply be aliens (even “Mutant” ones) sound like a good idea, an inconsequential change – or a terrible decision?
However, now that the decision has been made, it’s really up to theTMNT reboot screenwriting duo of Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Procotol) to actually make that tweaked origin story work.
As for why the Turtles are now going to be aliens: perhaps it’s to allow for other sci-fi elements and characters to be more organically woven into the rebooted TMNT mythology. Not that non-earthlings like the classic villain Krang (who even hailed from another dimension) have really struggled to fit into the series before now, but still…
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot is tentatively set for a December 25th, 2013 theatrical release date (via screenrant)
I am going to shoot Michael Bay in the face. With an atomic weapon. While I’m doing a back-flip over a screaming woman, in slo-mo, with explosions going off in the background.
Da fuck Michael Bay?!?! STOP MAKING DECISIONS!!!
