A major DCEU star wants to play a role in a planned Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, and he’d be a perfect choice for it!
It’s been 35 years since the first live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie became a box-office smash that boosted the franchise to iconic status. The Turtles have continued onward with more movies, both live-action and animated, numerous TV shows, and still a wonder with merchandise.
Plans are underway for another take on the Turtles, although this one would be different. The Last Ronin is based on an IDW comic series written by Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz (Peter Laird helped with the story) and is a take on a popular idea of a far-future tale.
Set in a future New York ruled by Oroku Hiroto, grandson of the team’s old enemy, the Shredder, the tale opens with the Turtles long dead. The one survivor (exactly which one it is is a mystery for the first half of the tale) seeks revenge with the daughter of April O’Neill and Casey Jones.
Speaking to People magazine about the 1990 movie, Eastman said he still has hopes for the planned Last Ronin movie to become a reality… and has a great name in mind for one key role!
Who could play a future Casey Jones?
When discussing the film, Eastman shared that Joe Manganiello threw his hat into the ring to play Casey Jones, the Turtles’ old ally. The former hockey player was a minor character in the comics but became more popular in the hit animated series, showing him as a nutty would-be superhero.
Elias Koteas played the role in the 1990 movie, with Stephen Amell playing Casey in the 2014 rebooted 2016 Out of the Shadows feature film. According to Eastman, Manganeillo is more than eager to take on the part of an older Casey.
“I first met him [when] he approached me online because he’s a huge Turtle fan, and he’s a huge fan of the Turtles role-playing games. So we visited a few times and we keep in touch … But when they talked about doing a new Turtles live-action movie, he said, ‘I want to be Casey Jones in the revision of that.’ He sent me a couple of pictures. And he would be [perfect] agewise. He’s perfect. He’d be perfect for it.”
Many fans will agree with Eastman’s words. Manganiello is well known for action roles such as Rampage as well as True Blood. He’s also got experience with comic book movies, having played Flash Thompson in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films.
DC fans were excited when Manganiello was cast as Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke the Terminator, in Justice League. The plan was for Deathstroke to be the key villain of Ben Affleck’s solo Batman movie and appear in a Justice League sequel. However, the various creative upheavals of the DCEU meant that Manganeillo only made another brief appearance in the extended ending for Zack Snyder’s Justice League cut.
Manganeillo would be marvelous as an aged Casey. He has the athleticism to handle the action roles and the gravitas to play the older version of the man, still rough while carrying on a romance with April. It’d also be good to see him tackle another franchise after his Deathstroke run failed to work out.
Eastman added he’d also love to have Judith Hoag, who played April in the 1990 movie, reprise the role for a Last Ronin film. While the movie is still not a sure thing, if it ever does get made, Manganiello as an older Casey would be an inspired casting choice.
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