The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been a staple of children’s entertainment since 1987 when their cartoon was first released. The idea of these creatures was so absurd that they were obviously an enormous hit. They would go on to have their own series of live-action films and a multitude of spin-off TV shows. However, their most recent live-action outing was the Michael Bay-directed Out of the Shadows.
One of the main villains in the film is Krang. He is meant to be the bad guy who is even worse than Shredder and with even more of a cartoonish nefarious plan. But even though he recruits Shredder to help him, it inevitably ends badly. So what is it about Krang that made him turn his back on what should have been his best ally?
What Is Krang?
Krang looks like a slimy, pink brain with tentacles, eyes, and a bad set of teeth. He has a real mean streak and an ego that should take up most of his disgusting body. Krang is prone to big speeches that show just how amazingly powerful he thinks he is and how his knowledge is far more vast than that of any human. It’s often his downfall.
Krang (sometimes called “the” Krang) is a warlord from Dimension X. He was introduced in the original TMNT series as an ally to Shredder and he is also in control of the Technodrome, a giant sphere of a war machine that he is constantly attempting to teleport from Dimension X to our world. He is a world conquerer with illusions of grandeur.
What Happened to Krang’s Body?
As mentioned, Krang is a brain-like creature, but he once possessed a full body. Alas, it was taken from him for all of his misdeeds. In the cartoon, Krang was given a humanoid robot suit to wear, with his brain-body squished into a cavity in the stomach. This gave him the ability to move around on his own and fight in hand-to-hand combat with the turtles. It didn’t always go well, and the suit was a constant thorn in his disgustingly greasy side.
In Out of the Shadows, Krang is very close to this character and origin story. Michael Bay seems to have enjoyed the character but was a bit concerned with how it would look.
“He could have some tentacles. I just don’t want them coming out of the side. He looks like a stupid octopus.” (
via comicbookmovie.com
)
The Brain Behind the McGuffin
In Out of the Shadows, Krang teleports Shredder and explains that he needs his help to find the three pieces of the arc capacitor which split apart upon entering our dimension. Once the pieces are found, it will allow Krang to fully teleport his Technodrome to Earth. He promises Shredder that when he assembles the arc capacitor, the two of them will rule the world together. Shredder returns to Earth and begins searching for the three pieces so that his scientist, Baxter Stockman, can put them together and utilize the arc capacitor to bring Krang’s plan to life.
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Michael Bay needed a reason to get the turtles out of New York City and did so by putting one of the pieces in Brazil. This lets us see the turtles fighting in the rainforest before returning to the city having failed to secure the final piece. Thus, they are forced to watch as Shredder finally opens the portal for Krang to come through.
The Reason Behind the Betrayal
The reason for Krang’s double cross is that he wants to rule alone. It is the obvious answer but one that Michael Bay understands. Bad guys don’t want to share. He even gives Krang a line that says as much:
“We were a team!” Teams are for the weak. Family is for the scared. The Earth is my toy! And I do not like to share!
Krang is the embodiment of a maniacal laugh. He has zero redeeming qualities and acts just as awful as he looks. Shredder, who has been our main bad guy since the last movie, is reduced to a regular team player. He has full belief that this disgusting creature from another dimension has every intention of sharing the leadership role. Krang seems to have an unbelievable amount of information about Shredder and his problems (including the turtles) and offers to help as if it were a pittance. Then, the rug pull.
Defiant to the End
Krang’s last line of the entire film occurs following his defeat. He is being sucked back through a wormhole yet still has time to shake his adorably grotesque tentacle and yell:
“I’ll be back turtles! And a thousand times stronger!”
It is the classic line of every ’80s cartoon show villain. He’s never fully beaten. The good guys are too good to kill him. But he’ll regroup and have another go at a later date. It’s hard to say whether Krang was a one-shot or if Bay is planning on rounding out his series with the turtles heading to Dimension X.
All we know is that Krang not only betrayed Shredder, but he froze him, put him in a human-sized glass container, and threw that into the belly of the Technodrome, into a place he calls:
“The toy chest with the rest of the things I’ve broken.”
This could hint at other bad guys that could have something to do with another movie. But until Michael Bay starts sharing ideas, we can still rest easy with the knowledge that the waking nightmare-fuel of Krang’s uncomfortably pink visage will forever be remembered not for his beauty, but for his betraying brain.
