TMNT: Out of the Shadows Writers Focused on Funny and Family

When Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows hits theaters this week, it's the second second film in the franchise. Fans will notice parallels between this film and the original second movie, Secret of the Ooze, from experiments using a mutating ooze to new mutant animal villains, some familiar catchphrases, and even a little dose of Vanilla Ice. Writers (and producers) Josh Applebaum and André Nemec knew that fans would want and expect some of that, but also where to draw the line and keep the balance.

"It's 2016, it's a new movie, it has to feel like its own thing, so we didn't want to put that stuff too much at the forefront of it and make it feel like it's only an homage, but really slide those Easter Eggs in there for the fans, that was the way to do it," said Applebaum in an interview with Comicbook.com. "There was discussion about the middle of the movie having the Turtles just start doing the Ninja Rap, but it was too much," he said with a laugh. Instead, a snippet of "Ice, Ice Baby" was played on a jukebox during one scene in the film, and Ninja Rap does make its way into the credits, which was all the writers and other filmmakers trying to nod to the Turtles that made them fans.

Indeed, Applebaum and Nemec knew they had to make a movie that was simultaneously for the 8-12 year-old set that currently watch TMNT on Nickelodeon, but also for the thirty-somethings who grew up with the original animated series, live-action films, comics, and games. Their focus had to be split, but it all centered around serving that inner child, making kids feel more grown up and adults feel like kids again.

"Knowing you're making a movie of this size, where the action sequences can be as elaborate and badass as they are, that, for starters, allows you to play to an older audience in a great way," Applebaum explained. "There's something universal about the Turtles and the franchise. I think for kids watching it on Nickelodeon, there's a feeling that it's a little bit older than something they should be watching, because there's that irreverence to it. And for thirty-somethings, for ourselves, there's a return to that feeling of childhood."

Nemec added, "I think it's your 12 year-old self that's really enjoying the movie and laughing at it, because I think it hearkens back to what you remember loving about the Turtles when you were 12, or younger, watching them." He compared the "irreverence" of the original films to what they tried to do here, adding in more humor.

That humor was a primary focus, "Hugely so!" Applebaum said. "There's probably places in the first movie where we took ourselves too seriously. To lift that veil up – still treat the world and the characters with respect but have fun with it, what are we taking so seriously? It's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!" Nemec praised Applebaum's knack for comedy and said when they'd be sitting down for writing sessions, he'd be making everyone laugh, making Nemec ask, "with all this funny coming out, why aren't we putting it on the page?"

The humor and action is balanced with a family dynamic that Nemec says is completely unique in superhero films, helping make these huge mutant turtles "very relatable to the audience - especially to kids who are still living at home with siblings that I'm sure they're having fights with!" he said. The family focus helps show how the Turtles grow and mature, taking on a "personality and role" in the family that's unique.

Of course, those personal moments also have to fly in the face of over-the-top concepts like Krang - the brain-like villain from another dimension that pilots a giant robot body (told you it was over-the-top) and the pair of mutant henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady. Nemec was particularly excited for Krang, saying he was "very high on our list" of characters to use, and "the visuals are so cool and for the real longtime fans, I think they'll be blown away."

Bebop and Rocksteady, though, were "literally the first thing" they told the studio needed to be in this film, Applebaum said. "They were in the script for the first movie for awhile, but they just sort of went away for a confluence of reasons. So when we knew we were doing a sequel, we were like, 'we get to do Bebop and Rocksteady in this one, right?'" The pair of thugs have a fight sequence against the Turtles in a crashing airplane as seen in the trailer, but their marquee sequence is against regular-Joe human, Casey Jones. That was to help boost Casey, who in that scene becomes the oddity.

"He's just this guy, this human being brought into this wild world and having to fight these two beasts, having to survive this fight where he's so outmanned - it was a fun balance," Applebaum said. As a "huge Casey Jones" fan, he was thrilled to get to do a new origin story for him, saying "the dynamic that he creates as part of our band of misfits is a blast."

As for where they go from here, they're glad that the "bandaid has been torn off" of the wilder elements like interdimensional travel, teleporting villains, and bigger, badder threats than fans may have expected out of just the second film.

"In future movies," Applebaum teased, knocking on wood that they'd have more stories to tell, "hopefully we can go wilder, have more fun, while also keeping the characters connected."

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is in theaters June 3, 2016.