Michael Bay Says Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Will Be Aliens In Film Reboot

Paramount Pictures recently announced a Christmas Day 2013 release for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action blockbuster reboot that will film this year from director Jonathan Liebesman, who delivers Wrath of the Titans in theaters next week and previously helmed Battle: Los Angeles. We expect to hear some more specific details about Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol writers Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec's approach to the reboot soon, but an early indicator has come from Michael Bay whose Platinum Dunes shingle are producing and developing the project. Speaking out at last week's Nickelodeon Upfront in New York, Bay hinted a radically different origin/backstory for those heroes in a half shell that may be less reptilian, less mutant like than before;

"When you see this movie, kids are going to believe, one day, that these turtles actually do exist when we are done with this movie. These turtles are from an alien race and they are going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely lovable."

The traditional backstory for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are that they were regular pet turtles who along with a rat were exposed to a radioactive substance and became giant sized out in the sewers of New York City. It is very much the Spider-Man superhero kind of stuff and for purists of the TMNT saga they will be desperate for the film to stay true to those roots. So understandably a lot of fans on the web are losing their minds over this news. However if you actually look at Bay's comments closely, does he actually say the TMNT will be aliens? Bay says they are from an "alien race". Now to humans, the idea of a walking, talking and fighting life-sized Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are an alien race. I mean think about it... colloquially people sometimes refer to things being "alien" as a non-literal way of saying they are completely different from us. Just like the idea of a talking dog is "alien" to us. But Bay probably does mean they will be aliens but we can't say for 100% sure just yet, can we? Watch the video of Bay's comments and decide for yourself what he means; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles started off as a rather edgy black and white comic book series in 1984, but really hit the mainstream big with an uber popular animated series in 1987 that was a staple of many childhoods as it was shown regular on weekend mornings over the next decade. A cult favourite live-action film was released in 1990, which was followed by two live-action sequels, and further a live-action television series, another animated series and then a CGI feature film in 2007. Little is known about the TMNT live-action reboot outside of its release date and the talent involved. One theory that seems to be spawning across the web is that the Turtles have been given an alien origin to allow a wider mythology for the villains in the first movie and potential sequels. Which is fine and all but what stops the TMNT series having a sci-fi universe for villains even if our heroes are radioactive turtles? source - stuff we like