New CGI movie

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

But have they ever been portrayed with such mystery from there standpoint? Maybe in the comics

Oh by "the comics" you mean that pesky Source Material. Yes. It is there. And kind of stings a bit for folks who project their own nonsense into things. The 1990 movie (now 31 years removed from the equation) did a... fairly OK job of that. And that's like the only movie fans and audiences agree was fairly OK. So now let's radically reexamine that? Why? Why change the few things that universally always worked?

[NinjaPug]

With Mirage Studios/Laird no longer having any creative input in the property things like their designs and their origins will likely continue to further move away from the source material.

[TheJ-manTurtleMan]

Another terrifying thought I had was that if they do make the turtles human first (which I sincerely hope they DO NOT do) then a potential plot point could be them trying to find a way to turn back to human. I hate that idea.

[AquaParade]

If that is the direction, I have to admit being surprised at the gall of Nickelodeon. "Rise..." seemingly failed because it was so "off brand", it doesn't even feel like TMNT.

I'd think that would nudge them in the opposite direction to try and be more faithful to the source material. Instead, it's like their attempt at "left turn" didn't work, so now they're just going for a full on backflip.
Just turn right, damnit. The end of the rainbow is two feet away.

That said, even if it sounds like the polar opposite of what I'd like to see, I am curious, and I suppose that's a reason to be alive.

[CyberCubed]

We've seen some drastic changes from IDW/Nick already:

- Turtles reincarnated from Yoshi's sons in Japan. If it was just Yoshi and Saki reincarnated that'd be a different story, but they also technically had the Turtles past lives as humans

- April named the Turtles in IDW, not Splinter. I think people have forgotten this over time

- Raphael technically didn't grow up with his brothers for 1 year in IDW due to Old Hob snatching him away when he just got mutated

- In the 2012 cartoon of course Casey and April were made teens for the first time to grow up with the Turtles instead of being adults


Obviously villain origins get changed all the time, but the Turtles origins did get a shake-up already since 2011.

[sdp]

IDW was never good and luckily since it's a comic book it'll be ignored by nick forever and once it's cancelled it'll fade to obscurity of the fandom.

[frank_one]

Huge fan of Mirage here but I'm done playing the grumpy old 30+ fan who spits on everything that deviates from the source material. They can do whatever they think will work, I'm fine. Obviously I won't bother watching it, like I've never bother watching the Bay movies.
New versions and reinterpretations won't make the original material less important or less accessible and that's all I care about.
Even during the Laird/Eastman era we have seen new versions of the Turtles, like the FW cartoon or the Archie comics. Damn, Laird himself produced a series where Shredder is an alien, beat that! And you know what? That series is quite good.

[TigerClaw]

Well I am looking forward to it and I'm a huge fans, I'm interested to see what Seth Rogen will bring to the table.

[IndigoErth]

Can I just get a good, solid, normal TMNT in film (and in animated series) again before I'm frigging old?

Why are people so desperate to totally reinvent them and turn them into something they aren't, rather than, you know... let the TMNT be the TMNT and focus on exciting new stories instead of effing up the general foundation. I get that people get bored of the same stories retold over and over, and sure, most of us do, but new stories doesn't have to mean also changing who they are as characters.

Originally Posted by sdp

He has the largest weapon of the four.

does that mean Raphael is asian?

Great, thanks for the nightmare fuel, now I know what Leo actually meant by "my swords" when talking about mutation.





edit: How is it that this film was announced nearly a year ago and...this is where we're at and it's still over 2 years away. I know there has been a pandemic and all, but so much of an animated movie these days, esp the early stages, is totally distance/telecommute friendly. A year later and we see scribbles on paper.

[Galactus]

Maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions based on a piece of art but it would certainly fit the reports that Rogen wants to focus on the teenage aspect of the franchise. The flaw with that approach is the only reason the characters are even teenagers to begin with is Peter Laird thought that adding in Teenage Mutant made a catchier title than simply 'Ninja Turtles'.

Whenever the various cartoons and movies want to emphasise the teenage aspect they have them skateboard and eat pizza and so forth but that's as far as it usually goes because the characters have never acted like typical teenagers because the world they inhabit is so far removed from the typical teenage experience of curfews, homework, meeting girls etc. The only way to make them seem more like actual teenagers would be put them in high school. Being a animated movie they could try it that they are in disguise and the human kids and faculty are too dumb to notice or have them as humans who turn into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Both approaches are ********.

The idea that the turtles are isolated from society has actually been consistent underlying theme in almost every version of TMNT. Whether it's played for laughs like in the '87 cartoon or more serious like in the comics it's always been there.

Heck one version that had this at the forefront was Nickelodeons own TMNT: Out of the Shadows and I hate to say to say anything positive about any of the Platinum Dunes productions but that was one of the better parts of that movie. I can't say that the exploration of whether the turtles should be human or not was something I ever wanted to see but it was actually handled pretty well, it had shades of X-Men: First Class handling of a similar theme. I actually would have liked more screen time devoted to that debate rather than the groan worthy sneaking into the Police station or the Planetarium stuff. Of course the reason why it worked is because they didn't pull the trigger and make the turtles human, not as a test to see what it was like or even as a gag like in the crappy 2000s Fantastic Four sequel were they had a sequence were they kept swapping powers.

Having them start out as humans is not only worse but it would probably be the most significant change anyone has ever made to the mythos even moreso than than Michael Bay's aborted plans to make them aliens and fight Col. Schrader. What would their relationship with Splinter be? Biological father? Gym coach? Karate instructor? Why would he train them (presumably) to fight Shredder and the Foot?

Every successful version of the property has had the Hamato Yoshi vs Oroku Saki rivalry at their core it's bizarre that they keep sidelining and jetison the central theme of the property. For all their faults the Mirage comics got it, the 80s cartoon got it, Archie comics got it, the 90s live action movies got it, the 2003 animated series got it, the IDW comics got it, the 2012 cartoon got it...even Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation got it. I have nothing against him but if he does away with this aspect then Seth Rogen doesn't get it.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Galactus

Maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions based on a piece of art but it would certainly fit the reports that Rogen wants to focus on the teenage aspect of the franchise.

I haven't checked since yesterday, but from memory one of the notes said the Turtles used to have 5 fingers and now they're down to 3...which implies going from a human hand of 5 fingers to the mutant turtle hand of 3 figures.

I don't know if these notes are what he actually plans to do, but if so, it's hard to not think he's going for human teenagers mutated to turtles.

[Galactus]

Nickelodeon have probably had this as a plan for a while.

While I stand by that it was reasonably well done aspect in an otherwise terribly executed movie the fact that the turtles could potentially become human was such a random subplot to even have in Out of the Shadows. Then there is that crappy short were the turtles have become human and go to high school with April and all those shorts seemed like test pitches for future TMNT projects.

If Nickelodeon and/or Seth Rogen really think a movie about high school kids who moonlight as crime fighters is a good idea have them do Power Rangers. If they must change into anthropomorphic animals do Street Sharks. Just don't do TMNT.

[Leo656]

I'm like thisclose to just making it my headcanon that the TMNT franchise ended entirely with "Turtles Forever".

Fact is we'd all be better off.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by Galactus

While I stand by that it was reasonably well done aspect in an otherwise terribly executed movie the fact that the turtles could potentially become human was such a random subplot to even have in Out of the Shadows.

Even there, at least they let the Turtles have differing opinions on it (okay it was just Leo who objected and for which I was grateful he did) and eventually change their minds as if they learned something somehow.

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

the notes said the Turtles used to have 5 fingers and now they're down to 3...which implies going from a human hand of 5 fingers to the mutant turtle hand of 3 figures.

It doesn't say they ever had 5 and even if easy to assume it still wouldn't mean much since most turtle species also have 5 digits on each, so it could go either way.

Considering the impacts of mutation is reasonable to touch on, and we've already talked about those things here before so goodness knows some of it could have served as inspiration (I know I've brought up the wonky nature of mutation and the losing of fingers myself once or twice), though it's not much of a detail to bother with for a plotline.

[AquaParade]

Alien-turtles don’t sound half bad, now that I think about it.

[frank_one]

If they start as teenage humans this imply we will see their parents and they will interact with them after the mutation. It's not like a teenager can go living in the sewer and leave his family without a reason. Unless all their parents die or are already dead. Maybe they start as orphans and happily accept Splinter (who will start as a rat maybe) as their father after the mutation.

[IndigoErth]

Splinter is probably a science class pet...or the would-be dissected one that Mikey couldn't bare to hurt so he smuggled him out and escaped from his backpack when he went to karate practice after school. From that point the rat lived in the dojo and picked up some moves.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

We've seen some drastic changes from IDW/Nick already:

- Turtles reincarnated from Yoshi's sons in Japan. If it was just Yoshi and Saki reincarnated that'd be a different story, but they also technically had the Turtles past lives as humans

- April named the Turtles in IDW, not Splinter. I think people have forgotten this over time

- Raphael technically didn't grow up with his brothers for 1 year in IDW due to Old Hob snatching him away when he just got mutated

- In the 2012 cartoon of course Casey and April were made teens for the first time to grow up with the Turtles instead of being adults


Obviously villain origins get changed all the time, but the Turtles origins did get a shake-up already since 2011.

You could make the argument if any of those aspects are actually good regardless if you like the material.

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

Can I just get a good, solid, normal TMNT in film (and in animated series) again before I'm frigging old?

Why are people so desperate to totally reinvent them and turn them into something they aren't, rather than, you know... let the TMNT be the TMNT and focus on exciting new stories instead of effing up the general foundation. I get that people get bored of the same stories retold over and over, and sure, most of us do, but new stories doesn't have to mean also changing who they are as characters.

edit: How is it that this film was announced nearly a year ago and...this is where we're at and it's still over 2 years away. I know there has been a pandemic and all, but so much of an animated movie these days, esp the early stages, is totally distance/telecommute friendly. A year later and we see scribbles on paper.

If people are bored of the same stories told over and over, they haven't experienced Batman. That's a franchise that tells the same stories over to the point of regurgitation and yet they still manage to tell a multitude of different takes from Zur En Arrh to Gotham by Gaslight. He's arguably the most popular comic book superhero. TMNT aren't nearly big enough and hardly at that point where people can do radically drastic versions that stray from what it initially was. You have to build a base before you get ambitious because sometimes ambition can almost kill a franchise.

They either try to milk nostalgia from FW or try something unnecessary as opposed to a somewhat reasonable change. This company is very out of touch with what the fans want.

Originally Posted by Galactus

Nickelodeon have probably had this as a plan for a while.

While I stand by that it was reasonably well done aspect in an otherwise terribly executed movie the fact that the turtles could potentially become human was such a random subplot to even have in Out of the Shadows. Then there is that crappy short were the turtles have become human and go to high school with April and all those shorts seemed like test pitches for future TMNT projects.

If Nickelodeon and/or Seth Rogen really think a movie about high school kids who moonlight as crime fighters is a good idea have them do Power Rangers. If they must change into anthropomorphic animals do Street Sharks. Just don't do TMNT.

Now that I think about it, the concept origin for this kinda matches the origin for Battletoads where they started off as humans.

Either way, it's as though as if Nick is trying to find the worst possible people to run a film incarnation. First a guy known for explosions and now a guy known for stoner and sophomore jokes that can't stop getting high.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I haven't checked since yesterday, but from memory one of the notes said the Turtles used to have 5 fingers and now they're down to 3...which implies going from a human hand of 5 fingers to the mutant turtle hand of 3 figures.

Or it could just be going from a normal turtle hand of 5 fingers.

[AquaParade]

Makes me think of these figures:

Spoiler: