Was Splinter meant to be gay in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie?

Conspiracy theories abound over claims that Paramount is trying to cover up the fact that a character in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) film was originally meant to be gay.

It all began with a YouTube movie reviewer who goes by the username Price of Reason. After watching an early screening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, he expressed displeasure that Paramount tried to make Splinter, a mutant rat voiced by Jackie Chan, gay.

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“To add insult to injury,” he said, “at the end of the movie Splinter is seen making out with Scumbug and then professing his love for Scumbug who he seemingly enters into a relationship with.”

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“Now that in and of itself is already out of character for Splinter as we’ve known him for years, as it just doesn’t seem like something he would do. But then later after researching the character posters for this movie and also consulting with Tom from Midnight’s Edge, I’ve come to the conclusion that they’ve decided to present Splinter in this movie as an LGBT character, a creative decision that I disagree with since he’s never been presented that way in the 40 years that this franchise has existed.”

The reviewer’s evidence lies in movie posters released by ParamountUK introducing each character and the actors who play them. Because Scumbug does not speak, the poster introducing the mutant merely stated, “Scumbug as himself,” thus identifying the character with “he” pronouns. A love story between Splinter and Scumbug, then, would be one between two male mutant animals.

THE DELETED POST: pic.twitter.com/VB7G9Du8Ou

— MEAD The 4K