A comic book retelling of the Michelangelo, and Raphael back to the big screen for another live-action adventure.
The four turtle warriors have been the subject of various comic book titles, TV shows, and movies. Recently, they starred in two films produced by Michael Bay, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. The first was considered a success, while the sequel was, unfortunately, a box office bomb. Its failure led to Paramount seemingly abandoning the series in favor of starting over. This time, TMNT will move away from the live-action elements of the last two installments and go with a CG-animated approach. A release date for the project has yet to be announced.
Each version of their story does something a little differently than the last, and the same is likely to be true for the new version. One aspect of the story that the TMNT reboot can make changes to is the Turtles’ backstory. In 2011, IDW published a new series of TMNT comics that reinvented their origin. It was revealed in the comic that Splinter and the Turtles were all reincarnated from Japanese warriors who lived during the feudal period. Hundreds of years ago, Splinter was Hamato Yoshi, a skilled fighter and a member of the Foot Clan who tried to leave the group. He and all four of his sons were subsequently killed by the evil Oroku Saki.
Reincarnation allowed Yoshi and his children a second chance at life as a rat and four turtles respectively. Now going by the name Splinter, Yoshi recalled his old life and the skills he possessed as a swordsman. Thanks to his old memories, he was able to give the Turtles the training they needed once they were mutated into humanoid forms by the incident in the sewers. Later on, they discovered that their old foe, Oroku Saki, managed to use magical means to live on as the Shredder in modern times.
The Turtles being reincarnated warriors from feudal Japan may sound like a crazy idea, but it worked well in the comics and added a fascinating new element to their origin. It’s also something that hasn’t been done outside of the comics, and though it might be a bit darker than what some have come to be used to from the franchise, it’s certainly a story that would feel unexpected and unique to audiences, while still justifying the existence of walking, talking ninja turtles. Perhaps most importantly, it could improve the plot itself and make Shredder an even more compelling villain. The notion of Shredder having a personal feud with Splinter is an existing one, but giving him a violent history with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that goes back centuries could make the conflict between them more exciting than past versions.
