The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles panel at New York Comic Con 2016 was full of sneak peeks and surprises today. Voice actors Rob Paulsen (Donatello), Greg Cipes (Michelangelo), Eric Bauzer (Tiger Claw), and Kevin Michael Richardson (Shredder) joined Executive Producer Ciro Nieli, Voice Director Andrea Romano, and moderator Andre Meadows (Black Nerd Comedy) to discuss the new episode airing on Nickelodeon on Nov 6.
Sneak Peeks
The panel opened with some serious sneak peeks into the new episode and the reveal of the Super Shredder who debuts in episode 20. Lead by Andrea Romano, the cast performed a table read of the opening scene of the new episode, complete with one hell of a roaring bellow from the incredible Kevin Michael Richardson. The scene shows how Shredder strongly encourages (read: threatens) Stockman-Fly to give him the rest of the mutagen that creates the monster mutant Super Shredder.
But the sneak peeks didn’t end there. Two more scenes from the episode showed the introduction of the comic character Alopex to the show as well as Hot Head with Mark Hamill providing the character’s menacing voice.
As if that wasn’t enough, Greg Cipes had a special moment of his own. He told the audience that, as a musician, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles inspires him so much that he writes songs about it. For years he has been hassling Nieli to put them in the show, but there’s never been an appropriate fit for them. That is, until now. When Neili found that an upcoming episode had a two-minute gap, finally the show could include one of Cipes’ songs. Debuting at New York Comic Con, fans were blessed with a rough clip of the song “Ice Cream Kitty” dedicated, of course, to the adorable Ice Cream Kitty. Even though this was the first time fans had heard the song, it was so catchy that everyone was singing along.
Surprise Special Guest
But wait, there’s more! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and WWE have teamed up to bring out a line of toys that mash-up a Turtle with a wrestler. They revealed Leonardo as John Cena, Donatello as The Undertaker, Michelangelo as “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and to introduce Raphael (by far, the best Turtle, of course) was surprise guest, WWE Hall of Famer Sting. What a massive surprise! No one in the entire hall was expecting the man himself to walk in from the back of the theater up the aisle and on stage in full regalia. Greg Cipes, the voice of Michelangelo who seems to actually embody the character in every way — except dressed as a cat for the panel — tried out some wrestling moves with Sting, but things didn’t go well for the comparatively undersized Cipes.
The toy line looks incredible. The toys are a bit bigger than the usual figure standing at 6” tall and are fully articulated with full ring gear and sewer slam accessories.
An Exciting End to Season Four
Overall, it looks as though the last part of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles season four will be exciting. As Shredder becomes almost unstoppable as the Super Shredder (complete with a voice described by Kevin Michael Richardson as “a ‘roided-out sick puppy”), the show is definitely going in an interesting and darker direction. With a powerhouse of talent in both the writing and performances and with a fantastic addition of Hamill to the cast, season four looks like it’s going to be epic. We can’t wait for Nov 6! Booyakasha!