God of War art director Raf Grassetti's latest creation features a new take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
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The illustrator, whose day job is as a Sony Playstation art director, posted the finished version of his realistic TMNT renditions to ArtStation, as he had been sharing several glimpses of his stunning lifelike redesign of the beloved heroes in a half-shell on Instagram. All four Turtles are present, with different costumes and markings in addition to their trademark bandanas and weapons. Leonardo sports samurai armor and wears his katanas on his waist, while Donatello's shell is marked with purple paint.
The design bears a surprising resemblance to 2014's live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film directed by Jonathan Liebesman. Produced by Michael Bay, the movie drew controversy for its original script which featured the Turtles as aliens from another dimension. The film would spawn a sequel two years later, titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. An CG-animated TMNT film is being developed by Nickelodeon, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's Point Grey production company.
About his newest creations, Grassetti said (via his ArtStation page) “Having some fun with some TMNT mixing the old school designs that I grew up with and love with some new influences from the Michael Bay and animated series.” It's unclear whether he means the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series or Nickelodeon's current TMNT series, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Grassetti is known for being the art director for the PlayStation 4 installment of God of War. He has also provided several redesigns of other pop culture franchises, including Marvel Comics' X-Men and Batman: The Animated Series rogues. Grassetti will also provide a variant cover for Batman #100, which serves as the conclusion to the "Joker War" storyline.
Right now, Grassetti has only released his versions of the four main Turtles themselves. But I know that fans would love to see this expanded to see Shredder, Splinter, Krang, Leatherhead, April O’Neil, and more. Let’s just make a whole underground pizza party out of it!
I imagine that eventually, there’s going to be another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action series or movie. It’s kind of inevitable. And whenever that happens, I certainly hope that the producers give Raf Grassetti a call. His versions of the boys has the right mix of nostalgia for the original TV incarnations from the ’90s, but combines it with more detail and flair than we’ve seen on other iterations of the characters.
For more of Raf Grassetti’s amazing work, be sure to head on over to his Instagram page and his ArtStation account. COWABUNGA!
More Nick: Nickelodeon Readies Next Chapter of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with All-New CG-Animated Theatrical Release Produced By Point Grey Pictures!
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