In September, we were treated to the release of a new Ninja Turtles movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
This new iteration of the turtles was accompanied by a beautiful new art style and animation. The film pitted this version of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael against a new foe in Superfly, voiced by Ice Cube. The turtles were able to put an end to Superfly's evil plan, but with the defeat of their first villain comes an even more formidable threat on the horizon.
The ending of Mutant Mayhem teased the arrival of long-time foe Shredder, and director Jeff Rowe has opened up about his take on the character and how he wants to make the well-known villain "100 times scarier than Superfly". Speaking with Empire, Rowe shared that Mutant Mayhem took inspiration from Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy by choosing not to use Shredder as the main villain in the first film.
"The one thing I can say without spoiling anything is, [Shredder] needs to be 100 times scarier than Superfly - who is a credible villain, he's dangerous, he's strong, he seems like he could mess the Turtles up. Shredder needs to be that, just significantly more," said Rowe
Essentially, the Joker of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle mythos Shredder has been around since the very beginning and poses a serious threat to the turtles. "It'll be very interesting to see these fun-loving characters go up against something that maybe they can't stop." said the director while contemplating a fight between this character and the turtles.
Superfly, while certainly a dangerous foe, relied heavily on the comedic side, so with Shredder said to be much more intimidating, fans can expect a darker tone for the next film. The upcoming sequel, while officially greenlit, does not currently have a release date, so when we will see this version of the character remains to be seen.