It's already been confirmed that classic TMNT villain Oroku Saki, aka The Shredder, will feature in Paramount Pictures' planned sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and director Jeff Rowe has now indicated that he intends to introduce a take on the character we haven't seen before.
Though he didn't feature in the actual movie, Shredder was originally going to serve as the Heroes in a Half-Shell's primary antagonist before the decision was made to focus on a newly-created character (Superfly) and save Saki for the sequel.
If you haven't seen Mutant Mayhem yet and don't want to know how Shredder factors in, spoilers follow.
In the post-credits scene, Cynthia Utrom decides to call in Shredder's services to help her take down the Turtles, and we get a quick glimpse of his signature purple cape and spiked armor as he looks over the New York skyline.
While chatting to Collider, Rowe was asked if he plans to take a fresh approach to the character in his Mutant Mayhem follow-up.
“That is exactly what I am trying to figure out and what my next meeting will be about. That is what we are in the thick of now. Shredder is just a great character. He’s an iconic, classic, loved character. He’s like the Joker. You know who he is, even if you’re not a fan of the source material. I think we definitely wanna do a villain-forward film. We’re currently trying to make decisions about that, but those decisions for us as filmmakers are always going to come from the place of what tells the best story, specifically about our main characters, the Turtles.”
Given the changes to Splinter's origin, it was always unlikely that this version of Shredder was going to be connected to the Turtles' father/sensei, which is something most earlier incarnations of the character have had in common.
“After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.”
Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu and Brady Noon will voice the roles of Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael, respectively. The cast also includes Jackie Chan as Splinter, Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog, Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, Ice Cube as Superfly, Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Post Malone as Ray Fillet, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko, and Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom.
Jeff Rowe (The Mitchells vs. the Machines) directed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, which is produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.