‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows’ may delight long term fans in a way that its predecessor didn’t, as it marks the introduction of several favorite characters like the bumbling mutant henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady as well as sports enthusiast/vigilante Casey Jones.  ‘Arrow’ star Stephen Amell makes his big screen debut in the action comedy due next year as Jones, a hockey-stick wielding, roller blading fledgling crime fighter and the actor says the movie will show his character’s evolution from novice to pro.

“Just from looking at my appearance-as opposed to what comic book fans have come to expect from Casey Jones-we are meeting Casey in this movie at a very different point. The Casey that we met in the previous live-action films was a finished product. I’m doing a completely different job (at this point in the story) than I am by the end of the movie. So, I like it because it’s very much an origin story for my character. It’s certainly not the centerpiece of the movie. But for me personally, I like finding a character in a phase of discovery.

Many were bummed that Casey wasn’t in the first movie, but producer Andrew Form stated that initially plans were for him to appear but as the film evolved, the focus shifted to April, who is really a much more important character:

“We had talked about the Casey character in movie one for a long time in development. We did have incarnations of the scripts with Casey and April in the movie together. By the time we made the movie, Casey kind of went away, and (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) became April’s story.”

Screenwriter Andre Nemec confirmed the plans for Casey in the first movie, but stresses that the character’s journey will prove quite satisfying in the sequel:

“[He’s introduced] through all kinds of wonderful scenes and great action and adventure. He represents something that is a part of the Turtles, in terms of the vigilante status of their life. In terms of a character also trying to find his path and his way. We had, in early drafts of the first movie, explored the Casey Jones character and then we let him go from the idea of the first movie. We always had it in our craw to have the Casey Jones character be part of the Turtles franchise, and this movie is the right way to introduce him into their world.”

Are you glad to see Casey Jones in the new movie?  What do you think of Stephen Amell in the role?

‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows’ is directed by Dave Green and also stars Megan Fox as April O’Neil, Will Arnett as Vernon Fenwick, Alan Ritchson as Raphael, Noel Fisher as Michaelangelo, Pete Ploszek as Leonardo (with voice by Johnny Knoxville), Jeremy Howard as Donatello, Danny Woodburn as Splinter (with voice by Tony Shalhoub), Tyler Perry as Baxter Stockman, Brian Tee as Shredder, Stephen “Sheamus” Farrelly as Rocksteady, Gary Anthony Williams as Bebop and Laura Linney as Chief Rebecca Vincent.

The movie will be released on June 3rd, 2016.

Source: Screen Rant