Villainess Blown Opportunity: Judith Hoag's Rita vs. Megan Fox's April O'Neil (TMNT: Out of the Shadows)

I just want to clairify something here. I've been writing a few "Villainess Blown Opportunity" pieces recently, but I assure you, my intentions are genial. When I write these, it's not out of any disrespect to whatever show or film is the subject. This is not me immensely criticizing the project. Rather, it's just an idea or a suggestion from someone who's been a fan of villainesses since age 8, and has a big imagination. A lot of the shows or films that serve as the subject still have my adoration regardless, but if I believe that there was an opportunity for a villainess to take the spotlight, I'll definitely point it out.

The subject for this edition: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, the 2016 sequel to the TMNT film that came out two years prior.

I've been a TMNT fan as early as the age of five. My first lunch box? TMNT. My first watch had was a Michaelangelo watch. I did watch the TMNT cartoon series that featured the late, great James "Uncle Phil" Avery as the voice of Shredder, and that's the version that is currently on MeTV Toons right now. I have still yet to see the TMNT movies that came out in the 90s, but I did watch the 2014 movie in the theater, mainly because, other than my TMNT fandom, I also like Megan Fox, who played April O'Neil in the film.

Of course, it was two years later that Out of the Shadows was released, and before I went to the theater to see this film, I saw this little nugget online:

Look at this tasty tidbit, folks! A behind-the-scenes shot which features Fox as April O'Neil, Will Arnett (who was also in the first film), and a very familiar face to TMNT fans: Judith Hoag. That's right, folks, OG movie April O'Neil was keeping a close eye on the very woman taking that mantle, and her expression is quite smarmy. At the time, her character wasn't really known, because the movie wasn't out yet, and when it came to cameos like that, character details are under wraps. Based on Hoag's look, I figured she'd be some sort of villainess. Finally, I watched this in the theater, and while I did enjoy the entire film, I was dismayed that I had to wait until the near end to see Hoag. At least her character was revealed; she played Rita, April's boss at Channel 6. She was only shown for a few seconds, but some time later, an extended scene popped up online, showing Rita meeting with April and delivering quite a lucrative offer.

I was happy to see just a bit more than what the theaters gave me, but my wheels were turning. For about eight years I sat on this. Then the inspiration hit me about a year ago.

A year or so prior, I was watching Castle, and the episode I saw was "Head Case," from Season Four. This pleased me for two reasons; one, among the guest stars was William Atherton, who we Ghostbusters fans know as Walter "Dickless" Peck from the first film, and he reprised the role many moons later in Frozen Empire. Secondly, Judith Hoag appeared as the episode's revealed villainess, Cynthia Hamilton. Hoag's done the villainess thing quite a bit. Other than Castle, Hoag's been evil on The Mentalist, Women's Murder Club, and twice on Murder, She Wrote, while also playing a Lifetime film villainess as well. Disney Channel viewers know Hoag as Gwen Cromwell-Piper from the first two Halloweentown films, and it was in the second film that Gwen briefly turned villainous.

That's seven villainous roles for Hoag (that I know of). Rita should have been eight.

So how could Rita have gone from TV boss to main villainess? There's two ways this could have happened. Option A: Rita and April's talk goes exactly like it did in the extended scene, but in a later scene that could appear either during or after the credits, Rita begins turning heel and secretly reveals that she has something sinister planned for April, with that scene setting up a third film with Rita as the main villainess. Option B: a third film occurs, Rita's back in a bigger role, and then begins and cements her heel turn in the progression. The only idea I don't have is what evil plot that Rita could have, but given that she's a higher up in the media world, it really doesn't matter--it'll be big, bad, and absolutely diabolical.

Rita would have been such an amazing villainess if a third film happened. Usually when something is rebooted, and a key character is recast, the original portrayer usually appears in either a mentor role or a villainous one, with the latter usually done to make things interesting. It's a shame that we never got that with Judith Hoag's Rita; she had the look, she had the power, and the opportunity was definitely there.

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What do you think? Should Rita have been a villainess against April O'Neil? Were we truly denied the chance to see OG April plague the rebooted version in such diabolical fashion? Feel free to speak your thoughts in the comments section below?