NYCC 2014: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Panel Shows New Versions Of Fan Favorite Characters
By Nick Tylwalk
The “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Booyakasha!” panel on the Empire Stage at New York Comic Con showed fans a lot of cool stuff. There were clips and storyboards. Three of the men who voice the Turtles — Seth Green, Rob Paulsen and Greg Cipes — were on hand. Attendees even got to see an almost complete version of the Halloween episode from the current season over a week before it will air on Nickelodeon.
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But nothing sent a charge through the room quite like the return of two old favorites: Bebop and Rocksteady are coming to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles this season.
The new versions of the popular villains from the 1980s animated series were shown, as well as some partially animated sequences from the episode that features their transformation. It looks like Shredder picks the forms of a warthog and a rhino as punishment for people who he feels have wronged them, as opposed to the originals who volunteered (sort of) to be mutated. There are some differences, as Bebop is notably skinnier than his 80s counterpart, but like most things with the current series, the important things remain intact. Yes, that includes Bebop’s mohawk. Story editor Brandon Auman jokingly said that people can stop writing in to ask when the two characters would appear, because they’re coming.
Also on the way is a new version of Hun, historically the leader of the Purple Dragons and a personal foe of Casey Jones. The twist time around is that the new Hun is clearly modeled after Bruce Lee, a change that went over well with the crowd at NYCC.
When asked where the creators get their inspirations during a brief Q&A session at the end of the panel, Auman said they look at everything from the Mirage comics to the 80s cartoon to the live action movies and try to bring the best elements from all of those incarnations of the Turtles to their show. It’s something they’ve done very successfully through two seasons, and if Bebop and Rocksteady are any indication, fans are going to continue to enjoy the work they’re doing going forward.