The heroes in a half-shell will be back on the big screen next summer and today brings word of another live-action actor slated to join them. Tyler Perry, most recently spotted in David Fincher’s Gone Girl, has been added to the cast of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 as scientist Baxter Stockman. He joins returning cast members Megan Fox and Will Arnett, who are locked in to reprise their roles as intrepid Channel 6 reporter April O’Neil and her cameraman Vern Fenwick, respectively.
Perry’s character won’t be the only newcomer to the franchise. Arrow star Stephen Amell recently boarded as hockey stick-wielding vigilante Casey Jones, and Victoria’s Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio (Gossip Girl) is set to play Vern Fenwick’s love interest. Fan favorites Bebop and Rocksteady, two of Shredder’s idiotic lackeys, are also touted to make appearances.
Turning to how Stockman fits into the turtles’ story, and it would seem he’s gearing up to be another poor exploited soul thanks to Shredder’s meddlesome plans. In earlier takes on the character, one of Stockman’s inventions – a bunch of sewer rat-killing machine called Mousers – is brought to Shredder’s attention. The villainous tyrant then hires the scientist to create a bespoke version for the sole purpose of murdering the Turtles and their mentor Splinter. Whether director David Green will opt to retell that origin tale is unknown, but it would certainly give Shredder something else devious to enact.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 arrives on June 3rd, 2016.