NINJA TURTLES Gets Its "Shredder"

The creators behind the latest theatrical CG/live-action installation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sure took their time in finally letting everyone know that actor William Fichtner‘s character of “iconic stature” meant he is playing the Shredder. The announcement came back in May as updates were made regarding actress Megan Fox‘s role, that of the main Turtles’ cast, and actors Will Arnett and Danny Woodburn were included in the film.

Today, ComingSoon.net has forwarded a quote from Fichtner’s latest interview with Huffington Post Canada while promoting his latest TV show, Crossing Lines. While talking about playing the Shredder, Fichtner says “…It is cool. It’s one of those things that came along where I thought, “Really? Let me think about this for a minute.” [Laughs] Then I was like, “Yeah, OK, this sounds like a journey.” I’m very glad that it worked out, I’m really glad that I’m doing it.“


In the original story, prior to becoming “The Shredder”, the character, Oroku Saki, murders his rival, an honrable ninja named Hamato Yoshi. Yoshi’s death left his pet rat, Splinter, to fend for himself, training and utilizing what he learned during Yoshi’s own training.

Fichtner has also appeared in films like director and “Turtles” exec. producer Michael Bay‘s 1998 disaster film Armageddon, the 2002 futuristic action thriller Equilibrium and the Nicholas Cage action/horror thiller, Drive Angry. He will also be seen in the July 3, 2013 release of The Lone Ranger, and the August 9 release of Elysium with actor Matt Damon.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stars Megan Fox as April O’Neil, Alan Ritchson as Raphael, Jeremy Howard as Donatello, Pete Plozek as Leonardo and Noel Fisher as Michelangelo. Actors Woodburn and Arnett are playing Master Splinter and reporter Vernon Fenwick, respectively. The film is directed by Jonathan Liebesman and Will release on June 6, 2014 from Paramount Pictures.

QUESTION: Do you want to see William Fichtner as The Shredder?