Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones Spinoff Reveals Epic Pitch Video

Despite the ever-expanding popularity of comic book characters carrying their own spinoffs, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has yet to really tap into that. Six feature films have been released for the franchise so far, with a seventh due out later this summer, but TMNT fans can now get a taste of what almost was, and it might make them wish to hope over to Dimension X to see more. Filmmaker Jason Eisener took to Twitter today to reveal a pitch trailer he created for a Casey Jones spinoff movie, one that would have brought in just one Turtle but been just as gritty as the original TMNT stories.

"Five years ago I pitched a Casey Jones standalone film to Paramount with Shredders daughter Karai as the heel," the Hobo With a Shotgun and Kids vs Aliens director tweeted. "The final act saw Casey team up with Raphael who was too look like he stepped out of the 1990 film. Here's the tone reel I made." In the video, which you can find below, Eisener compiled footage from not only the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie but also films like The Raid 2, Maniac Cop, Good Time, You Were Never Really Here, and all of it scored to Black Sabbath's "I." 

To make this potential "What if" scenario even more appealing to fans, none other than Joe Manganiello sounded off on the pitch trailer that Eisener shared, replying: "About ten years ago, Paramount wanted to make something with me and I said I wanted to play Casey Jones... I would have done this in a heartbeat."

A fan-favorite character in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, Casey Jones was a parody of other comic book vigilantes but one with a unique skillset. Donning a hockey mask, the character would fight crime using a variety of sports equipment including baseball bats, hockey sticks, cricket bats, and golf clubs. He would quickly become one of the biggest characters in the franchise thanks to his appearances in the various shows and movies, with Elias Koteas playing him in the original 1990s feature films. Arrow's Stephen Amell would take on the role for the 2016 movie).