TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Director Teases New Take on Shredder for "Villain-Forward" Sequel
Shredder is going to be a major focus in the next Ninja Turtles movie.
A new generation of Ninja Turtles arrived on the big screen this year, with the debut of the critically acclaimed movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. The film took a different approach to the iconic franchise, focusing more on the lives of the turtles as teenagers, as well as some of the other mutant characters that aren't usually featured as prominently as Kang or Shredder. That said, a final tease in the post-credits scene revealed that Shredder will be coming in the sequel (which is already in the works), and it sounds like he won't be the only villain joining the party.
During an interview with Collider, Mutant Mayhem director and writer Jeff Rowe was asked about his work on the upcoming sequel. He explained that he is working to make Mutant Mayhem 2 a "villain-forward film" with Shredder as the centerpiece.
"That is exactly what I am trying to figure out and what my next meeting will be about," Rowe said. "That is what we are in the thick of now. Shredder is just a great character. He's an iconic, classic, loved character. He's like the Joker. You know who he is, even if you're not a fan of the source material. I think we definitely wanna do a villain-forward film. We're currently trying to make decisions about that, but those decisions for us as filmmakers are always going to come from the place of what tells the best story, specifically about our main characters, the Turtles."
Mutant Mayhem Sequel Introducing New Characters
Shredder is the character that fans seem most excited to see in the Mutant Mayhem sequel, but there are a ton of beloved characters from throughout TMNT lore that have an opportunity to show up in the next big screen adventure. Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Ninja Turtles, spoke to ComicBook.com about other characters he hopes to see in this iteration of the franchise.
"Through the experience of the Nickelodeon 2012 animated series, which just wonderfully brought in some original concepts from the original cartoon series to all the elements, the Tricetons had such a big role in there," Eastman told us. "So we've been lucky enough to experience this in so many ways and so many opportunities. I look forward to seeing where the sequels to Mutant Mayhem are going to go; not just the series, but the next movie because, you know, you've got Casey Jones waiting in the wings. You've got Krang out there, and you've got the Rock Soldiers and Neutrinos. So I'm, I'm pretty pumped."
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is now streaming on Paramount+.
