‘TMNT’: Alternate Turtles & Master Splinter Concept Art Revealed

[RoadWarrior]

Director Jonathan Liebesman’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot survived years of fan ire. The involvement of producer Michael Bay and the casting of Megan Fox as April O’Neil, as well as the originally-planned changes in the turtles’ origins and early looks at the new character designs gave fans plenty of reason to remain skeptical that the new TMNT would do justice to a long-beloved property.

Most critics found it passable entertainment at best (read our review here), but TMNT proved itself profitable, making $477 million worldwide and re-launching the franchise for a new generation. The 2016 sequel will not seen Liebesman returning, with Dave Green (Earth to Echo) in line to direct instead.

We’re getting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, so fans have been wondering just which new characters (or, rather, new versions of familiar characters) they can expect in the sequel. We’ve already heard that fan-favorite Krang henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady will appear, with Casey Jones also a possibility.

With that in mind, conceptual artist Jerad S. Marantz (hat tip to CBM) recently shared some alternate designs he created for franchise mainstays Master Splinter, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo. Check them out below.

The most immediately notable difference between these designs and the new, modernized turtles is how much slimmer and more compact the unused designs are, compared to the stockier mutant ninja turtles we wound up with; not to mention, Splinter’s meaner look and Raphael’s horned skin. The end result proved divisive with many fans, but with the help of some dedicate motion capture actors and specific, individual designs for each turtle, there is a clear aesthetic in store for future installments.

While some of Marantz’s designs for Bebop and Rocksteady briefly went up on various sites, they have since been taken down. The designs of Krang’s henchmen in TMNT 2 are up in the air, given the bulky direction the producers ended up going with for the final version of the turtles. Still, we can likely expect a pair of somewhat realistic designs – for warthog and rhinoceros-human hybrids, anyway.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 will be released on June 3rd, 2016.