No longer the blurry figures half-glimpsed in costume photos or your most cynical imagination, the new, Michael Bay-oozed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are finally ready to step out of the shadows, and into the shadows. The gritty, de facto “dark superhero” aesthetic of this trailer—where the presence of William Fichtner is only the beginning of its nods to The Dark Knight—is likely to be the least controversial thing about this franchise reboot from Battle: Los Angeles director Jonathan Liebesman, which long ago promised to add some much-needed “plausibility” to the story of man-sized turtles who are trained by a rat in martial arts.
Fortunately, Bay’s controversial alien origin suggestion seems to have been completely eradicated, as there are hints here, via Fichtner’s portentous monologue to Megan Fox’s April O’Neil, that Shredder was the one who created them, working in tandem with April’s father—a rewriting of canon that may upset longtime fans, sure, but you have to admit it’s a lot more plausible, given that fathers almost always see their best intentions turn into mutants. And, well, sometimes those mutants look like melted Shreks with samurai swords. That’s just part of growing up.