Kevin Eastman Hints That The 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Could Have An Alien Backstory After All

There was a rumor that the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ in the new Jonathan Liebsman-directed film were actually going to be aliens, not normal turtles mutated by radioactive goo. Then that rumor seemingly went away. Now… it seems it’s back. Or possibly.

Appearing at Hall H at San Diego Comic Con, Turtle creator Kevin Eastman responded to a fan’s inquiry as to the origin of the Turtles by saying:

“We’d been fans of ‘Star Wars’ from the early days, starting with the ooze being an alien substance in the original comic books… It’s fun to keep the soul of the characters, but take a step to the left or the right.”

In the original comics, the same radioactive substance that mutated the Turtles and Splinter also gave Daredevil his powers. Eastman’s statement doesn’t necessarily mean that the Turtles are aliens, but does hint at a different back story than what we’re used to. Possibly just the ooze is from another planet?

In addition to the panel, extended footage from the film was shown and was widely positively received. A longer clip of April meeting the Turtles and Splinter was revealed as was a longer clip of the Turtles sliding down the snowy mountain sequence. These longer clips apparently flesh out the characters a lot more, especially Michelangelo, who seems to be he breakout star. There are also hints that April and Splinter have a deeper connection as he greets her by saying “It’s been a long time…” Did April have a pet rat as a child? Guess we’ll have to wait and find out.

The same is probably true of Eastman’s cryptic comments. Will the Turtles be aliens after all? I’m thinking not, but once again, we’ll have to wait and see.

(Video courtesy of Hollywood.com)