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Creator Kevin Eastman Talks 'Ninja Turtles' Expectations and Delay

by Ethan Anderton
July 17, 2012
Source: MTV

Before we let Kevin Eastman build up some hype for new adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is only going by the moniker Ninja Turtles, let's confirm some details. Back when talk of a title change surfaced, mostly due to the fact that the Michael Bay produced adaptation was getting rid of the mutant portion of our heroes in a half-shell, it was said the turtles would be aliens from another dimension. At the time, we revealed that this was happening because the script included the villain Krang (along with his giant body suit) and other creatures like Rocksteady and Beebop, and that's all been confirmed. Read on!

Now that we know what kind of turtle film we're dealing with, as far as the elements from the comics and origin story goes, we can focus on stuff like the action, and the worrisome delay that happened recently in the midst of Paramount Pictures troubles with World War Z and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Thankfully, comic creator Kevin Eastman is here to quell some fears and spark some hype for the ninja heroes, and he's not being very modest. Plus, he also talks about the changes in our heroes backstory that sparked a lot of uproar among fans recently. Here's what Eastman had to say while talking to MTV at Comic-Con:

"From what I've seen, it's easily the best 'Turtle' movie yet. We're talking 'Raid: Redemption'-style fight scenes; we're talking about epic 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' sort of effects.

[With regards to the changes made to the original comic story], I know that Michael [Bay] and his group really like that and that Paramount was supportive of that, so I think that it's great. I grew up reading 'Captain America' and 'The Avengers' and all that stuff, and over the course of the comic book history, since 'Avengers' has been around, how many times has it been reinvented, reformatted, restructured, replatformed?"

Eastman makes a valid point about big elements in the realm of comic book movies getting revamped don't cause as much of an uproar as this recent Ninja Turtles debacle, and I think fanboys just wanted another reason to rag on producer Michael Bay and didn't realize that this wouldn't shake the foundation of the heroes or change their characters in any significant way. Plus, if we're seeing Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo fighting in the same style as The Raid: Redemption, this is going to be awesome.

But what about that production delay? That sounds worrisome right? Well, Eastman says, "A lot of people are worried we pushed the release date from December to May, but the 30th anniversary of the 'Turtles' is in May, so it worked out perfectly." That doesn't mean there aren't problems, but it doesn't sound like Eastman is worried, so we should probably wait and see how all this pans out before freaking out again. Thoughts?

Filed under Development, Hype, Movie News

From around the web:

grimjob

Whatever happened to Peter Laird?
- Jimmy
  
  Peter Laird after going back to the original comics after the original hype died down held down the fort (without that money grubber Kevin) until 2009 when he lost passion and started falling into deppression and sold the franchise to Viacom. and suprise suprise Kevin jumped back on the bandwagon ready to sell his soul for money.
  - Voice of Reason
    
    Not everyone needs to be a humorless, strict Alan Moore about their projects, while it's easy to call Kevin a sell-out, Im sure he's happy his original product hasn't fallen to obscurity and despised and continues to reach people.....and it happens to continue to pay out.
BankyXD

If Eastman has faith in this movie I have faith in it, just have to wait on production photos or a trailer to get a real grasp on it.
- Bill-C
  
  Eastman cashed his check. He's all in.
DAVIDPD

I don't know...still holding breath.
DRM

Last I checked Marvel never changed Captain America into a Russian, so it's not really an apt comparison. Mutation is a fundamental aspect of the Teenage MUTANT Ninja Turtles. That's like saying all the X-men aren't mutants anymore. In fact that's LITERALLY exactly like that since the original TMNT were inspired by the X-Men and Daredevil. This is a movie I hope never gets made.
Jimmy

Who wrote this article? Clearly not a turtles fan. You can't just chage the most epic backstory of all time to supeman's backstory. (seriously the new turtles script has their homeworld getting blown up) Is spinter supposed to be an alien too? how are they going to do other mutant charecters. And Kevin Eastman is just a sellout who will say anything for money. Peter Laird is the one with integrity. and he rightly doesn't stand by this peice of shit movie.
- http://www.firstshowing.net/ Ethan Anderton
  
  So while people were excited about a new origin story with The Amazing Spider-Man (that didn't show up in the first film), it's apparently wrong to change the origin of another comic book property on the big screen. It literally does not effect the characters themselves at all. Not every detail needs to be adhered to in the film adaptations. I'm a huge Turtles fan, but I'm also open to seeing some harmless changes to a series that plenty are familiar with. It will change up the story dynamic enough to see something on the big screen we haven't before. Give it a chance.
  - Lamar
    
    The thing about The Amazing Spider-Man's new origin was that while it was changed a bit, it kept the basic comic book formula. Peter was a TEEN-ager in highschool and was in a lab with a bunch of other kids around his age when he was bitten by a radioactive spider. Uncle Ben died, he went after his killer, he later becomes Spiderman. That's it. Everything else you can do whatever you want with. What Mr. Eastman fails to realize when he mentioned said revamps to the Avengers and such is...their origins were tweaked not drastically changed. I understand what you're saying, and as a Turtles fan I will see this movie regardless. But I can't be happy with Bay (whom I've defended over the years) and this particularly decision. What I'm trying to say is...I don't want "Ninja Turtles". I want TEENAGE MUTANT Ninja Turtles.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jesse-Bangerter/100001074769241 Jesse Bangerter

this sounds stupid,
JennyHeadluv

... So, why can't we have movies with someone elses point of view? A new storyline? Personally a bit of fresh air from the same old stuff is nice. And also, in the comics if you read them, they were aliens from another planet... kind of. The stuff that transformed them was from another planet. The cartoons had their own story, the first live action movies had their own stories. So why not now? But the stuff that made them into the mutant ... ninja turtles was actually from a planet of walking talking turtles. I like having an opened mind to any movie. If you are so closed minded to change, you'll get stuck in the past and never be happy with anything. NOW I'm not saying like it even if it is horrid, but give it a chance first. You can't really complain about something if you haven't seen it yet.
- Voice of Reason
  
  While I support this mentality, I would advise not seeing "We Should Talk About Kevin" since it was not the 2nd perspective, darker reboot of the Home Alone movies I was thinking it would be.
Ace Duck

I'm a huge Turtles fan AND I am and have been excited about another film. I know all the critiques and understand the Bay hating and possible origin story re-imaginings, BUT I will see this movie, regardless! I am not looking to see the most accurate reflection of the original comics, I understand that this will be a different take. That doesn't mean it may not be an awesome film! Like someone else said on here, why would you criticize something that isn't even complete yet? Sounds pretty naive.