Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Co-Creator Peter Laird responds to Michael Bay

Ninja Turtles as Aliens? Laird muses about the idea...

This past week has been interesting for fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Recently, it was revealed that Michael Bay was producing a new live-action movie featuring the Ninja Turtles and in some of his recent interviews he's given some insight into the project, specifically their origin.

Though a bit out of context, he revealed, "When you see this movie, kids are going to believe, one day, that these turtles actually do exist when we are done with this movie. These turtles are from an alien race and they are going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely lovable".

The quote caused fans all over to grab their pitchforks and cry out, "Turtles... Aliens!?" The outrage was even covered in the mainstream press.

So it's not surprising that Bay responded, asking fans to calm down and wait:

"Fans need to take a breath, and chill. They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world."

Peter Laird, one of the creators of the Ninja Turtles, mused about the idea, "I would actually encourage TMNT fans to swallow the "chill pill" Mr. Bay recently suggested they take, and wait and see what might come out of this seemingly ill-conceived plan. It's possible that with enough truly creative brainpower applied to this idea, it might actually work. I'm not saying it's probable, or even somewhat likely… but it IS possible."

In the comic books, aliens were actually involved in the creation of the shelled heroes. In a riff on the Daredevil series at the time, creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird had a cannister of mutagenic ooze fall off of a truck (like Daredevil's radioactive waste origin). The truck was owned by TCRI, a front by the aliens known as the Utroms. You might recall the villain Krang with the brain-like creature in his chest, that was an Ultrom. Could Bay be referencing this origin that came from the Mirage Comics version (the canon origin) of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

Did You Know: TMNT started off as an idea from creators Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman that first became a comic book series before it ever made its way onto television, film, and in video games.