For a while, things weren’t looking so good for Michael Bay and Jonathan Liebesman’s ‘Ninja Turtles’. However, as production began, some rays of sunlight began to emerge from the smog poisoning thousands of Turtle fans’ childhoods. The first good sign was that the name of the film was changed back to ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’. Then this week, a whole lot of news leaked out from the shoot in New York showing some more promising details.
Firstly, ‘Arrested Development’ star Will Arnett was cast in the film about a month ago, but there were no details as to who the funnyman would be playing. Now, thanks to Super Hero Hype, we’ve learned that he’ll be Vernon Fenwick, April O’Neil’s Channel 6 cameraman. Featured in the Archie Comics and 1987 cartoon versions of TMNT, Vernon would often attempt to weasel stories away from April, but his cowardly tendencies prevailed every time resulting in him fleeing at the first sign of trouble.
This bit of casting is so spot on. I can’t wait to see Arnett take on the role. I’m already predicting many hints of GOB Bluth in this performance since both characters have much in common.
Speaking of April O’Neil, Megan Fox has been spotted around set sporting the reporter’s signature color. While she’s not wearing a yellow jumpsuit, the look has been modernized to fit in with this decade, so it’s just down to a yellow jacket. You can check out the shots of the actress in the gallery below, as well as a few of Will Arnett as Vernon Fenwick, thanks to Comic Book Movie and Collider:
While we know that Alan Ritchson, Pete Ploszek, Jeremy Howard, and Noel Fisher represent the main good guys in the film, there has been no word yet on who the villains are. Though they don’t indicate it explicitly, Deadline has reported on a casting choice that would be a prime candidate for a bad guy. ‘Entourage’, ‘The Dark Knight’, and ‘The West Wing’ star William Fichtner has joined the TMNT reboot. The report says that he will be playing “a lead with iconic stature in the Turtles’ mythology”. Unless he’s taking the role of the hockey mask-wearing vigilante Casey Jones, the only other iconic leads left would have to be Shredder or some other baddie. More on this as it develops.
Finally, the last piece of news gives us our first glimpse of the heroes in a half shell. Well, three of them at least. Michelanglo, Donatello, and Leonardo (played by Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, and Pete Ploszek respectively) all appeared on set in their motion capture suits. Sporting very large shells and arm bands to indicate which turtle they are, the actors seems to be taken prisoners by a group of soldiers, which are probably Shredder’s Foot commandoes, so that’s two first looks for the price of one! You can see those pictures below thanks to /Film:
How’s that for a news round up? That’s probably more than you even wanted to know about this movie. If you have anything to say about any of this, be sure to share your thoughts in the comments.
‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ starring Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Danny Woodburn, Alan Ritchson, Pete Ploszek, Jeremy Howard, and Noel Fisher hits theaters on June 6, 2014.