As we get ready to scream “Cowabunga!" in movie theaters withTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, fans are getting an inside look at the process ahead of the premiere. In an interview with Collider’sPerri Nemiroff, the movie’s directorJeff Rowe(The Mitchells vs. The Machines) talked about a particularTMNTvillain that almost made it to the screen in a significantly different context.
One of the characters from the new animated movie is Baxter Stockman, voiced byGiancarlo Esposito(Breaking Bad). Baxter is a majorantagonist of the Turtlesand a mad scientist that knows no ethics. In the 1987 series, an experiment gone wrong turns Baxter into Superfly, a giant mutant housefly. However, in the new film Superfly is voiced byIce Cube(Fist Fight) and is an entirely separate character. This prompted Nemiroff to ask: Was there ever an intention of making Baxter turn into Superfly at some point? Rowe had a surprising answer:
“I’ll tell you a secret. The reason the original design of Baxter Stockman… the original design of Superfly was as a mutated version of Baxter Stockman, which is why the toys, which have a really long lead time, the Superfly toy has like a sweater and a neck tie which is not a thing appropriate at all for his character.”
RELATED:‘TMNT’ Experience Lets Fans Explore the Turtles Sewer Lair Ahead of ‘Mutant Mayhem'
Toys ‘R Spoilers
After he revealed that, Rowe added that he hopes “no one” notices it and they’ll probably be able to get away with the sort-of last minute change. Indeed, toys go into production way ahead of time, which is why it’s not uncommon for fans of big franchises likesuperhero moviesto find out some spoiler or character reveal through leaked photos oftoys and figureswhich are getting prepared to hit shelves at the time of a particular movie’s release. InTMNT’s case, the toy simply illustrates the nature of the pre-production of a movie, during which characters get cut, added or modified in order to tell a better story.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtle Mayhemis co-directed byKyler Spears(Amphibia), and the script is written by Rowe along withSeth Rogen(Platonic),Evan Goldberg(Sausage Party),Dan Hernandez(Pokémon: Detective Pikachu) andBenji Samit(The Addams Family 2). The voice cast also featuresNicolas Cantuas Leonardo,Brady Noonas Raphael,Micah Abbeyas Donatello andShamon Brown Jr.as Michelangelo. In addition,Ayo Adebirivoices April O’Neil andJackie Chanplays Master Splinter.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhempremieres in theaters on August 2. Check out the full interview below:
