One month after announcing that Megan Fox would star as April O'Neil in his
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, producer Michael Bay and director Jonathan Liebesman have cast the first of the four turtles. So which Turtle is it and who's going to play him - or rather provide the voice talent? Well according to
Deadline the Turtle in question is bad ass rogue Raphael (previously voiced by Josh Pais in the 1990 original) and he'll be played by 28 year old up and comer Alan Ritchson who's past credits include the hit comedy series Blue Mountain State and
the forthcoming Hunger Games sequel. However geeks the world over will probably remember him more as Aquaman on Smallville. The role will require Ritchson to do mostly motion capturing work (i.e. Avatar) over putting on the bulky suits of the original live-action films from the 90s. Ever since the TMNT reboot was announced everyone has had something to say (usually negative) about every little detail Bay has leaked to the press. Firstly it was the use of the word 'aliens' over 'mutants', then it was casting Fox. Even the original comic book creators have been fanning the flames of discontent, and for what? You have to wonder how well this decision will be received by fans and naysayers when it starts to penetrate the news threads and message boards. For this writer though it's just exciting to know that a new Teenage Mutant Ninja/Hero Turtles movie is on its way and good, bad or 'meh' it can only be a positive for this classic licence to be making it's way back on to the big screen. I'm just crossing my fingers for someone to call Corey Feldman and ask him to reprise his role as Donatello. Now that would be worth shouting 'Cowabunga' over! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is setup at Paramount and Platinum Dunes and will be released on June 6th, 2014.