“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” has a pretty streamlined story with a 99-minute runtime. It would have been difficult to keep track of Shredder, in whatever capacity, when Superfly (Maya Rudolph), and Cynthia Utrom, played by Maya Rudolph, were introduced as the villains with bigger plans. Jeff Rowe admitted Shredder didn’t fit into the best version of this story, so they had to leave him out: “Shredder was the villain and it was too big of a character too soon. You didn’t get how the crime boss we played, and how it was related to these teens.
The crew chose to concentrate on Superfly’s mutant side, as it worked best with his siblings. The story is ultimately about teenagers who are trying to fit in but feeling shunned. So having the antagonist reflect this was the best way to go. Rowe doesn’t rule out the possibility of a Shredder sequel based on the original version they made work. “We could take scenes and reuse them in the new film.” It’s always important to begin with the story, character and emotional journey of these characters.
The team behind the movie and fans alike will be excited to see what Shredder becomes. The success of “MutantMayhem” makes it safe to assume that the new Shredder version will continue the legacy.