The Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a big success at the box office last year and so the studio is inevitably moving forward with a sequel. Today we have a couple of updates on the project.
The first is that Bay has Tweeted our first look at Arrow himself Stephen Amell in the role of Casey Jones who, as TMNT fans will well know, is an important human character in the eclectic universe. He is a former hockey player-turned-vigilante who wears his mask and utilizes various sports equipment as weapons including a baseball bat and hockey stick. Check out the pic of Amell in the fan-favourite role below:
Jason Voorhees, eat your heart out!
Amell isn’t the first actor to play the character on the big-screen. He was notably played by the great character actor Elias Koteas in the original live-action movies back in the ’90s, as well as being voiced by Captain America himself Chris Evans in the underated 2007 TMNT animated version.
The second bit of TMNT 2 news we have you for is that multi-Oscar-nominee Laura Linney is in talks with the studio to join the action sequel. It comes as a bit of a surprise considering Linney hasn’t really dipped her toe into blockbuster waters before but some are speculating that since she has a one-year-old now, she’s become more open to starring in more child-friendly projects.
Details of Linney’s exact role are being kept a secret at this point; could she be a help or a hindrance for our Heroes in a Half Shell? Either way she will join returning stars Megan Fox and Will Arnett, as well as the aforementioned Amell and – rather surprisingly – Tyler Perry (seriously).
I didn’t care for the first TMNT at all and thus haven’t got much hope for the sequel. I hope it’s the case of Linney elevating the material rather than a great dramatic actress being wasted.
What do you think of Amell as Casey Jones? And is Linney a shrewd piece of casting for the franchise?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 is currently set for release on June 3rd, 2016.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter