Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - "Commissioner Gordon"

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - "Commissioner Gordon"



Commissioner Gordon attempts to make sense of the latest attack on Arkham—and Gotham's strange new visitors—in this clip from Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, inspired by the acclaimed crossover comics by James Tynion IV and Freddie Williams II, is now available in 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital HD. Click the following link for full details!: http://nickalive.blogspot.com/2019/05/working-late-new-clip-from-batman-vs.html

From CBR:

Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Biggest Changes From Comic to Film

WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

As with any adaptation of a comic book, whether it be live-action, a cartoon or an animated movie, it's never exactly the same as the source material. With the Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja crossover finally being made into an animated film, we get a chance to see just how loyal DC Entertainment and Nickelodeon were with the lore, as it involves two unique parties who can easily go bonkers on comic book pages.

But, as expected, the movie makes quite a few alterations. So, with that in mind, let's take a look at the biggest changes made as Shredder comes to Gotham along with the "heroes in a half shell."

IT'S ALL ONE UNIVERSE

In the first volume of the comic from James Tynion IV, Freddie Williams II, Jeremy Colwell and Tom Napolitano, the Turtles and Shredder were sent to Gotham thanks to Krang's interdimensional weapon, as the alien wanted to consolidate power for himself in their universe.

Here, it's all one universe, and the Turtles simply make the trek from New York to the Dark Knight's home, tailing Shredder. In the comic, Shredder allied with Ra's al Ghul to spread Joker Venom as a last resort after he didn't have a way back home. In the film, Shredder is aligned with the Demon's Head right from the very start, looking to disperse poisonous clouds across the world.

THE ROSTER CHANGES

In the comics, Casey Jones and April O'Neil play crucial roles as they hop dimensions trying to bring the Turtles home. Not to mention, Master Splinter was marooned with his "sons" as well in Gotham, fighting alongside the Bat-family and even helping to train Batman in a sparring session he'd lose to Leonardo.

The movie doesn't have any of these supporting players for the Turtles, but it does add Barbara Gordon, Batgirl, to Bruce's team. She also works at Wayne Enterprises, helping him decipher the truth about the Turtles and why Shredder's going after cloud seeders. Damian's also prominent from the start of this movie, whereas the comic had him coming in for the finale at Arkham Asylum. As for the villains, Baxter Stockman doesn't feature until the second volume of the comics, whereas in the movie, he's in his fly form from the start.

THE MUTAGEN ISSUE

Seeing as it was two separate universes in the books, the mutagen factor inside the Turtles' bloodstream was rendered inert, leaving them dying. Shredder found this out, destroying his teleporter so that the Turtles and Splinter could remain in Gotham and perish.

Here, as it's all in the same world. There's no issue with the mutagen and no death factor for the Turtles. This predicament saw them almost return home in the comics in order to survive, only to rally back and surprisingly join Batman in the finale. In the film, though, Batman chides them for their petulance, but they eventually make amends, attacking Arkham as a united front, having never entertained the thought of leaving Bruce's side.

THE MAN BAT DRAMA

The six-issue miniseries used Arkham as the climactic backdrop where Joker, mutated into a giant cobra, and Mr. Freeze, turned into a giant polar bear, were among the inmates fighting off the Bat-Turtle alliance. However, here, no heroes were mutated thanks to the upgraded Joker Venom and ooze Shredder and Ra's stole from Casey.

The film drastically changes this, however, as Bruce is injected and turned into a giant Man-Bat after Ra's and Shredder steal the ooze from New York. Batgirl uses this info to create an antidote, thankfully curing Bruce of his animalistic ways, all to add a bit more drama than the books.

THE EPIC VILLAINOUS BRAWLS

The comic never had Batman and Shredder going one-on-one at Wayne Industries in the beginning as "Shred-Head" smoke bombed himself away from the fight. The film, though, does give us this clash, with Shredder using a special martial arts punch to put Bruce down.

In the comic finale, Shredder's taken down by Splinter, but, as the movie ends, seeing as Shredder is way too much for the Bat, Bruce distracts Shredder so Raphael can punch his lights out in a coordinated effort. As for Ra's, the comics had the four Turtles sync up and smash their shells into him, squashing him unconscious. The movie flips the script, though, by having him battle Leo in a one-on-one sword fight, only for Leo to use a kick to the crotch to defeat Ra's. Lastly, Batman used an Intimidator suit in the comics. Not so in the movie.

THE ACE CHEMICALS FINALE

The comics ended with Shredder, Ra's and the inmates beaten at Arkham, with April teleporting in to take the Turtles and Splinter home, while Bruce carted Ra's off to jail. The Turtles departed with Shredder in hand, with Raph leaving his red mask behind to remind Bruce they're like family.

The movie does things differently because Arkham's a mere distraction, leaving Ra's and Shredder at Ace Chemicals loading up the seeders. This culminates in Shredder falling into a vat of chemicals in a massive action sequence, turning into the Shredder Who Laughs, a maniacal Joker-like Shredder in the post-credits. Unaware of what happened, the Turtles and Bat-family chill in the cave, eating pizza.

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is now available on Digital HD and arrives on Blu-ray and 4K UHD June 4. The film is voiced by Troy Baker as Batman and the Joker, Darren Criss as Raphael, Kyle Mooney as Michelangelo, Baron Vaughn as Donatello, Eric Bauza as Leonardo and Rachel Bloom as Batgirl.

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From CBR:

Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Post-Credits Debut a New Threat

WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated movie pits the Dark Knight against New York's sewer-dwelling crimefighters in a crossover for the ages. The film revolves around the Turtles coming to Gotham to track Shredder, who's entered into an alliance with Ra's al Ghul. This causes conflict with the Bat, who thinks they're new villains on the block.

It turns out, Shredder, in exchange for the secrets of the Lazarus Pit, decided to help Ra's combine the mutagen from the TMNT franchise with Joker's Venom so they can seed it throughout the world via cloud dispersion and cause chaos. However, after the Turtles and Gotham's finest put their differences aside and team up to stop the villains, there's a post-credits scene that debuts a brand-new enemy who'll undoubtedly have the deadliest of vendettas against both sets of heroes.

[...]

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MUTAGEN

Batman and the Turtles find themselves at Arkham Asylum going to war with giant, mutated versions of the Caped Crusader's rogues. Joker's been turned into a cobra, Harley Quinn into a hyena and so forth, which leads to a massive brawl. After the "heroes in a half-shell" use a retro-mutagen they cooked up to save Batman himself from permanently transforming into a Man-Bat, along with Damian Wayne (Robin) and Batgirl, they all take down the inmates.

But at this point, it becomes clear Arkham's merely a distraction. When the heroes realize a Cloud Seeder has been stolen from Wayne Enterprises, they track Shredder and Ra's to Ace Chemicals, where the tyrants are enacting their endgame, which will see their clouds mutating the world, starting with Gotham. However, Leonardo ends up defeating Ra's, while Batman and Raphael bring down Shredder in a brutal kung fu battle that pushes them to their limit.

When Donatello and Michelangelo destroy the machine, though, Shredder's knocked away by the explosions and debris falling from the sky into a vat of the newly-concocted acid mix he and Ra's developed. He seemingly drowns before the protagonists' very eyes in what we initially think is a dark ending.

THE SHREDDER WHO LAUGHS

While the Turtles celebrate in the Batcave with Batman and company, eating pizza before they head back to the Big Apple, the post-credits sequence paints a different story as we survey the aftermath at Ace Chemicals. The factory's a warzone and, as we zoom in on the vat Shredder fell into, from the burning rubble, a hand emerges and we see a bigger, badder Shredder from the back arising.

However, as he turns to face the camera, with his mask off, there's a wide, delirious smile on Shredder's face, strongly resembling the Joker. He starts laughing maniacally and the screen cuts to black, revealing the rogue ninja formerly known as Oroku Saki is now a hybrid of the Joker and Shredder. We don't know how fractured the Joker-Shredder's mind is, exactly what the chemicals did to him or which personality will be in control, but after this defeat, the Turtles will have some mopping up to do.

Shredder showed disdain for Joker's antics earlier on in the flick, so it's interesting to see him devolve like this into something he hated. With Ra's in prison, this crazy Shredder might just team up with the Clown Prince of Crime in a sequel, knowing full well it'll enhance his chances of revenge against the Turtles and the Bat, especially as they inadvertently turned him into this monster.

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is now available on Digital HD and arrives on Blu-ray and 4K UHD June 4. The film is voiced by Troy Baker as Batman and the Joker, Darren Criss as Raphael, Kyle Mooney as Michelangelo, Baron Vaughn as Donatello, Eric Bauza as Leonardo and Rachel Bloom as Batgirl.

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From CBR:

Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Has a Weird Villain Problem

WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Ra's al Ghul's name has been a point of contention in the DC Universe for some time now, whether it be in live-action adaptations, animated movies or cartoons. Just how should his first name be pronounced? In Christoper Nolan's movies and the Arrowverse, it was pronounced "Ras," but in the animated world created by Bruce Timm, as seen with this correction here in Batman Beyond, it should be pronounced "Raysh."

Seeing as the latter is in-canon, this makes the mispronunciation of his name in Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all the weirder, giving the impression the DC Animated Universe doesn't understand uniformity.

This is a project produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment in association with Nickelodeon, and while it isn't the Timm-Verse, and it doesn't have key voice actors often linked to that narrative universe like Kevin Conroy (here, Troy Baker portrays Batman), continuity shouldn't be thrown by the wayside. When we're first introduced to the Demon's Head in this film, he emerges from the shadows, revealing himself to his business partner, Shredder.

The latter's charged with gathering the relevant technology from Gotham so they can start spreading clouds of altered Joker Venom across the world, but when he steps out from the darkness, Shredder calls him "Ras." It gets confusing later on when Damian Wayne, the Robin in this flick, calls him "Raysh," leaving us wondering if anyone overseeing voiceovers was looking at consistency. What exacerbates the situation is Batgirl, the Turtles and, sadly, even Bruce himself, pronouncing it like Shredder, which comes off as annoying.

Damian shouldn't be the only one pronouncing it correctly just because he's Ra's' grandson. If anything, from years of fighting the villain, Bruce should know by now how his name is to be said, and it's something the entire Bat-family ought to know, too. It's a matter of etiquette and respect, which we'd have liked to see passed down to the Turtles as well. Honestly, this issue doesn't exist with other Batman rogues or supervillains across the DCU, so it's jarring to see this rearing its head again.

It's been addressed in the past, and hearing Terry McGinnis being corrected by Talia al Ghul says it all. Having one character doing the right thing -- or in this case, saying it -- makes the conversations throughout the movie regarding Ra's feel disjointed and, when you look at how big a villain he has been in the Batman lore for years, such an intimidating despot deserves better. After all, Venom fans railed when the trailers pronounced "symbiote" wrong, and that was corrected for the movie, so it just goes to show that, as minute as these things might seem, it really is a big deal for folks who've been invested in these characters for decades.

For 90 minutes, Damian alone shouldn't be calling the villain by the right name, so, hopefully, next time we see Ra's across any medium, this mistake is rectified. If the Timm-Verse established what's correct, we really should be taking that as gospel, especially in the animated arena.

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is now available on Digital HD and arrives on Blu-ray and 4K UHD June 4. The film is voiced by Troy Baker as Batman and the Joker, Darren Criss as Raphael, Kyle Mooney as Michelangelo, Baron Vaughn as Donatello, Eric Bauza as Leonardo and Rachel Bloom as Batgirl.

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From CBR:

Batman Vs. TMNT's Troy Baker on Voicing Both Batman & The Joker

Blending the extensive casts from their respective franchises, the crossover animated film Batman Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has the Caped Crusader deal with the sudden arrival of the Heroes in a Half-Shell to Gotham City in an adventure that draws in the Dark Knight's rogues gallery, including The Joker.

Voice actor Troy Baker provides the voice for both Batman and the Clown Prince of Crime in the film, with two special features revealing his approach to portraying both the DC flagship superhero and his greatest enemy.



Baker revealed the idea for voicing both characters in the same film was one he had been thinking of for some time, having previously voiced the two characters separately in earlier animated films and video games.



For preparation, Baker consulted both Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, the two voice actors acclaimed for their work on Batman: The Animated Series. However, ultimately, Baker had to approach both characters for what best fit the story based on the script, which informed his final performances.

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is now available on Digital HD, and it arrives on Blu-ray and 4K UHD June 14. It is voiced by Troy Baker as Batman and The Joker, Darren Criss as Raphael, Kyle Mooney as Michelangelo, Baron Vaughn as Donatello, Eric Bauza as Leonardo and Rachel Bloom as Batgirl.

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From LRM:

Batman Vs The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Can Shredder and Ra’s al Ghul Work Together?

Bringing together heroes from two separate universes is usually not very easy, but as we saw in an earlier piece, bringing together Batman and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the now released animated film Batman Vs. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from Warner Bros. Animation and Nickelodeon had the help of having a large library of styles to pull from as well as similar characteristics and values. We all know that for the most part heroes may have some differences but overall play well together. But what about the villains? Can they co-exist long enough to follow through on their plan? Are any of them willing to give in to the other for the greater good of their plan?

This might seem like an almost impossible task for the two main antagonists of the Batman Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated film Shredder, leader of the Foot Clan, voiced by Andrew Kishino and Ra’s al Ghul, leader of the League of Assassins, voiced by Cas Anvar. With so many subjects looking up to them, is it even possible for them to form a working partnership? The following comments by the voice actors and screenwriter during round table interviews LRMOnline participated in at Wondercon last March, make it seem like any partnership between the two would just be a ticking time bomb.

Of course each of them would be lobbying for their own character. First Kishino said that, “Shredder has an inherent ability to look down on anyone. So he is always looking at everyone like ‘what is it exactly that you could do for me and when is it exactly the point where I am going to tier of you and have to dispose of you?'(…)He has that sense of evil that sense of disconnect comes from that fractured damaged vanity and ego where that is very dangerous to be around because it puts someone in that kind of psychopath realm where they’ll do insane things, really horrible things to get what they want done. Then when you put them in a body where he is capable physically to do the things that he can do, you have a really bad individual.”

Anvar also shared his thoughts about Ra’s al Ghul saying that, “Your talking to a man that has been alive for centuries, this man does not suffer fools. Shredder can get things done in his own way, but Ra’s doesn’t like to play well with others, he likes to be in charge and he likes the people to be at least mentally stable. I don’t know if Ra’s would view Shredder as particularly competent and dependable.”

Kishino also commented on his thoughts between the leadership styles between the two villains. “Shedder is very personally driven, he is prone to keep people in line through fear and intimidation and people just fall in line because that is who he is. They both have the same level of ruthlessness but their demeanors are real different because Ra’s al Ghul is generally a very calm individual before he throws you to the piranhas. Shredder is the person who is practically spitting through his mask before he sends you to the piranhas. So the results are kind of the same, but how they handle it, Shredder is always you know three cups of coffee over the limit.”

So how do you put these two together in a believable situation without undermining the other, especially with such clashing styles? Screenwriter for the film Marly Halpern Graser talked about overcoming this challenge. “We didn’t want to throw Shredder under the bus. Ra’s al Ghul is such an intense sort of all consuming villain that if you put him in a team up it’s hard not to make it seem like he is the real leader. It’s hard to have a team up with Ra’s al Ghul and have it seem like a team up of equals and it was very important to us to have Shredder’s back and be like ‘no shredder is really really cool,’ Shredder is the leader of the Foot Clan and are on the same tier as Rah’s and the League of Assassins.”

“I actually took a lot of inspiration from the Shredder/Krang dynamics in the 80’s cartoon because part of what I liked about that was how much Shedder and Krang sort of hated each other and were always sniping back and fourth and really did not like being teamed up and so I kind of obviously took a lot for Shredder and Ra’s just made it not comedic. I had two serious tough guys sniping at each other and hating that they had to be teamed up and taking every opportunity to undercut each other, it’s a very unstable alliance that would have probably not lasted one more day if the heroes hadn’t broken it up,” continued Graser.

By the sounds of the comments above, I am now interested in seeing a Shredder/Ra’s al Ghul face off. So how does the Shredder/Ra’s al Ghul partnership turn out? You’ll have to check out Batman Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles available now on digital, Blu-ray and 4K UHD.

Who would you take in a Foot Clan vs The League of Assassins face off? Let us know in the comment section below!

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From LRM:

Batman Vs The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bringing The Two Properties Together

Today you can finally own Warner Bros. & Nickelodeon’s Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Blu-ray and 4K UHD. This animated film is the first time that the two properties have crossed over on the small screen. It is based of the late 2015 DC Comics and IDW Publishing comic book mini-series written by James Tynion IV and Freddie Williams II. The story takes place in Gotham City where Shredder and the Foot Clan have arrived and teamed up with Ra’s al Ghul and it will take the Bat-family and the Turtles to take them down.

This entertaining film that puts together two properties with a lot of similarities as producer Ben Jones told LRMOnline at WonderCon this past March, “the good thing with the Batman and the Turtles is that there is a lot of overlap, there is a lot about ninjas a lot about fighting a lot about living in big Cities, so they are actually very compatible properties.”

This film features the first time most people will have the opportunity to see the Bat-family, which includes Batman, Robin (Damien), Batgirl and Alfred, interact with the four beloved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Leonardo, Michelangelo, Rafael and Donatello. Also let’s not forget a one on one fight featuring Batman and Shredder. It’s important to note that this will be the first time that the Nickelodeon property TMNT will be featured in a PG-13 rated animated film. So how would the creators find a good balance to the characters to co-exist in the same world? Turns out that with so many versions of both properties, all the screenwriter had to do was pick out what would work well together.

This was explained to us by Marley Halpern Grasner, screenwriter for the film. “The thing that is interesting for me as a writer with these sort of projects is that there have been funnier and darker versions of the Ninja Turles and also funnier and darker versions of Batman. So you’d have a really different movie if it was the 1980’s cartoon Ninja Turtles hanging out with Adam West Batman, but that would be valid, those are versions of those characters and they would be equally goofy and also you could do a super Frank Miller version of both where it’s like the really dark parodying Daredevil Frank Miller Ninja Turtles meeting the grimmest darkest version of Batman and they are just trying to out grim each other and that would also be valid.”

Granser went on to also explain the balance he wanted to have between the Turtles and Batman. “We want the turtles to be a little goofier than Batman so that there is contrast but they need to be serious enough so that they are believable in the same world (…) then you make Batman a tiny bit funnier so that it’s OK that there is all this pizza in the Batcave and then you find that equilibrium where in this movie the turtles seem funnier than Batman but they all seem like they are in the same world and that it’s plausible that they could all exist together”.

After watching the film it’s apparent that they were able to find this balance, both properties do mesh well together and make it for an enjoyable film. Like we had mentioned before, it’s makes the creative team’s life easier when both properties have rich histories to pluck from and not to mention that both the Turtles and Batman are Ninjas.

Have you checked out Batman Vs The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Let us know in the comment section below!

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More Nick: Nickelodeon to Host '35 Years of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Interactive Exhibit at the Paley Center for Media in NYC to Celebrate 35th Anniversary of TMNT!

Originally published: Friday, June 07, 2019.

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