Iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles villain, Shredder, is coming to the Mutant Mayhem sequel – and it sounds as though he’s going to be badder than ever.
During an interview with Empire, director Jeff Rowe revealed he has big plans for the Turtles’ most iconic nemesis.
“The one thing I can say without spoiling anything is, [Shredder] needs to be 100 times scarier than Superfly – who is a credible villain, he’s dangerous, he’s strong, he seems like he could mess the Turtles up,” he said. “Shredder needs to be that, just significantly more.”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans will of course know all about Shredder. Leader of the Foot Clan, Shredder is a force to be reckoned with, and the closest the Turtles have to Batman’s Joker. Of course, he took a back seat when it came to Mutant Mayhem, appearing only in a brief tease. Well, it turns out he was originally supposed to be the film’s main villain until the plans changed.
“Shredder used to be the main villain before we pivoted away from that,” explained Rowe. “They saved Joker for The Dark Knight.”
Mutant Mayhem starred real-life teenagers Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon, Sharon Brown Jr., and Micah Abbey as the eponymous Turtles, and while they found their feet going up against Superfly and his horde of mutant monsters, it sounds as though the stakes are even higher for the sequel. In fact, Rowe even teased that the Turtles may not come out on top.
“It’ll be really interesting to see these fun-loving characters go up against something that maybe they can’t stop,” he said.
IGN’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem review gave it 8/10 and said: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem oozes confidence, energy, and heart, and the animated adventure represents a new high for the Turtles on the big screen. Top-notch voice acting, anchored by Jackie Chan’s Splinter and four instantly lovable teen Turtles, plus a killer Reznor and Ross score ensure that Mutant Mayhem isn’t getting by on looks alone. Even if the superhero tropes the story plays with feel worn, the enthusiasm with which Mutant Mayhem tackles them always wins out.”
Want to read more about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Check out the Mutant Mayhem video game due in 2024 and find out how the original TMNT conquered Hollywood.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
About Author
