The 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie confused fans by initially casting William Fichtner as Shredder, then changing to Tohoru Masamune. Recasting Shredder in the 2016 sequel added to the confusion and showed a lack of direction in the handling of this iconic character. The Shredder character change could have led to a better story, but the mishandling of the villain hurt the movies in the long run.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action movies brought something new to the franchise, but there is one addition to the story that should have stayed on the cutting room floor. When Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arrived in comic book form in 1984, I don't think anyone could have said that it would be the phenomenon that it is today. Four giant turtles don't scream breakout success, at first glance. But the franchise's popularity led to numerous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles adaptations. With not all created equal,...