When the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles return to the big screen later this year, they’ll have to deal with more than just Shredder. After being rumored last year, it’s confirmed that Krang will appear in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, but he won’t look quite like as fans remember him.
While being profiled for Rolling Stone, producer Michael Bay was shown how the cinematic Krang will look by visual-effects supervisor Pablo Helman. This version of the character is described as a "disembodied brain inside a giant robot." Helman then told Bay they got rid of Krang’s tentacles for the sequel and asked if that was "too monstrous," prompting Bay to respond:
He could have some tentacles. I just don't want them coming out of the side. He looks like a stupid octopus.
On top of Krang's villainous coming out party, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows will also have our heroes competing with their arch-nemesis Shredder, returning with his daughter Karai; as well as Bebop and Rocksteady, both of whom have been transformed by scientist Baxter Stockman. Although Krang has been one of the Turtles’ greatest enemies since he was introduced in the 1987 animated series, it appears his freakish bubble gum-pink self clearly is getting a major revamp for his live action debut. In other words, he's not going to look so much like his original "octopus" self.
The changes don't stop there, as it doesn’t sound like Krang will have his eyes and mouth in his live action form, instead communicating (if he’ll talk at all) either telepathically or through some kind of speaker system. It’s unclear whether this Krang will remain an alien or be some kind of scientific experiment for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. Though considering Baxter Stockman’s role in the movie, it’s more likely that Krang has been affected by a mutagen or some other substance. Also up for debate is whether he’ll still have a robot body to walk around in or if he’ll be a stationary presence, so there's still a fair amount of questions left to be answered.
In the original animated series, Krang hailed from Dimension X, but was banished to Earth after he lost his body and was reduced to that brain-like blob. His goal was the same as most diabolical villains: to take over the world, which he usually tried to accomplish with his battle fortress known as the Technodrome. In the current CGI animated series on Nickelodeon, Krang and the Utrom have been adapted as an entire species known as The Kraang, and were indirectly responsible for the Turtles being transformed.
With Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows’ main villains, it’s doubtful Krang will play a major role in the plot. However, there's hope that he’ll return as the primary antagonist, if a third movie is ordered. Until then, we'll have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows to look forward to, which hits theaters on June 3, 2016.
