Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Out of the Shadows

Hey, remember when they released a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie this past summer? Crazy, right? No hard feelings if you forgot: the second movie in the franchise hit theaters the first weekend in June and promptly tanking, making less than $100 million at the domestic box office despite a nine-figure budget. It’s the sort of showing that could stop a franchise in its tracks; and according to the film’s producers, that might be exactly what happened.

Here’s a question: Why do the Ninja Turtles wear masks? What could they possibly have to hide? Are they worried people will discover their secret identities as mutant turtles who work as, like, electricians or tech support?

With a new movie on the horizon, it should come as no surprise that there are some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes Mega Blok sets coming out to tie into the release. Though some have already started hitting stores, Mattel and Mega Block have officially announced a handful of upcoming building sets and micro action figures that will see the existing TMNT line expand with new vehicles, playsets and characters. Some of the smaller sets are certainly nice, and I particularly like the modest TMNT Party Van that's hitting shelves as we speak. However, it's the bigger movie-related sets that currently have my attention. While the Battle Truck and Jungle Takedown sets won't be available for a few months, I'm already eyeing up some shelf space in my office.

Turtles skydiving, and fighting living brains housed in massive robots. They definitely ain’t lying with that whole “out of the shadows” subtitle.

Not long ago it was rumored that SNL vet Fred Armisen would be the voice of Krang in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (they really couldn’t go with a shorter title there, huh?). We’ve seen the beloved brainy villain in the trailers for the sequels, but we haven’t heard him speak just yet — and there may be a reason for that, as Armisen has apparently been replaced.

I like that this video explains who the Ninja Turtles are, for the benefit of those people who have been living in a cave (or maybe a sewer) since the late 1980s and have somehow avoided one of the six previous movies, five television shows, hundreds of toys, comics, and video games about these characters. “Oh Donatello is the purple one, ohhhhhh. For the last 30 years, I thought that was Raphael! My bad.”

It’s only been a few weeks since the most recent trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, the sequel to the Michael Bay-produced TMNT picture of 2014, and though it also nicks the Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep Til Brooklyn” for the soundtrack, there are a handful of key differences that distinguish one from the other. Specifically, that this latest spot is chockablock with soundbites that, when taken out of context, could be used by audio editors to form scathing critiques of this film. As the trailer timecounter ticks on, the negative review puns basically write themselves: “We‘re turtles, whether you like it or not.” “This isn’t working!” “We keep failing.” It’s almost like they’re challenging their harshest critics to do their worst.

It took a couple of trailers before we were introduced to Krang, the fan-favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles villain who will make his big screen debut in Out of the Shadows. And while we’ve gotten a sneak peek at the squishy pink baddie, we haven’t heard him speak just yet. For those curious about what Krang will sound like in the upcoming sequel, look no further than former SNL star Fred Armisen.

If nothing else, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows certainly looks wacky. The newest trailer doesn’t offer much in the way of “new,” but it is a solid reminder that Tyler Perry and Laura Linney are actually in this movie, and that is a thing we will never forget. On the more serious side of things (as if), Arrow’s Stephen Amell makes for a pretty cool Casey Jones. So there’s that.

Back at the start of the Kickstarter campaign for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shadows of the Past --- a new board game designed by Kevin Wilson that follows the continuity of IDW's TMNT comics and features input from TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman --- I mentioned that I was pretty excited about it. I am, after all, a sucker for big campaign-based board games, while Wilson has designed some of the best I've ever played, like the Lovecraftian adventure of Arkham Horror, and the current run of TMNT comics is one of the best things going. Well, it turns out I'm not the only one. In the two weeks since its launch, Shadows of the Past has racked up a staggering half a million dollars, doubling its initial goal and unlocking plenty of stretch goals for the Kickstarter-exclusive "Works" edition, including everyone's favorite mutant warthog in shutter shades, Bebop. Here's your exclusive first look!