Michael Bay wants you to “chill” over this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle stuff

After the massive backlash against the “Turtles from space” origin that director Michael Bay is concocting for the big-budget reboot of the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE franchise with director Jonathan Liebesman (WRATH OF THE TITANS), Bay has spoken up on his own website.

Here’s what he had to say:

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.

This was posted in Bay’s forum on his website, where a multitude of his fans are flocking to his defense.  Still, it can’t be ignored that massive changes to a beloved childhood property will bring the heat.  Some dismiss the outrage as whiny crybabies, while others tout the origin shift as sacrilige to the original material.  I fall somewhere in the middle. 

I think the fact that Eastman and Laird, the original creators, molded the Turtles out of another superhero’s origin (Daredevil) is a clever nod and something worth retaining in their lineage, regardles of what format they’re in.  On the other hand, the Turtles haven’t had the best of luck getting translated to any medium since the ’90’s, so maybe this is what they need.  If it sucks, well, it’s not like they won’t try again.

Either way, I’m interested to see how this plays out, especially with die hard fans in such an uproar.  Occupy Bay, anyone?  Dust off your Turtle costumes and nunchuckas…