Nearly a year ago when Michael Bay and Jonathan Liebesman were in the early stages of their new version of ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’, they ruffled a lot of feathers amongst the fanbase when they dropped the “Teenage Mutant” part and stated that they heroes in a half shell were aliens. Days later, the producer issued a statement telling fans to “take a break and chill”, but as we all know, that doesn’t do much to help the situation. Despite having approval from Paramount and co-creator Kevin Eastman, this reboot was off to a rocky start with the general public that’s supposed to be spending their hard-earned dollars on the film.
Now, after months of sticking to his guns, it appears that Michael Bay is giving in to the outcries for a change back to the original mythology. Well, sort of. In a recent interview with Moviefone, Bay said that the heroes were never going to be aliens in ‘Ninja Turtles’, but rather the ooze from which they were born is alien in nature. You could’ve fooled me when you said, and I quote, “These turtles are from an alien race, and they are going to be tough, edgy, funny, and completely lovable.” Regardless, here’s his new stance on the topic:
“There was that quote saying that we’re making [the Ninja Turtles as] aliens. We’re not. It’s the ooze! It’s from the original source material. These are from the original writers, and I never went out to correct myself in the press. I do listen to the fans and I do want this to be authentic. I think they’re going to be really happy with this movie. When I see the digital stuff, the turtles look great.”
Bay has a history of getting very excited about his films, so it’s possible that in his excitement, he just misspoke, but if that were the case, why did it take so long to correct? Well, I guess we really should listen to star Alan Ritchson when he says that everything online about the film is wrong. Either way now that that’s all cleared up, TMNT fans can rest a little easier knowing that this reboot is sticking to the source material. But not too much easier since Michael Bay is still attached to this thing.
‘Ninja Turtles’ starring Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Danny Woodburn, Alan Ritchson, Pete Ploszek, Jeremy Howard, and Noel Fisher hits theaters on June 6, 2014.