Stephen Amell’s underrated role in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows was the perfect companion to the superhero series Arrow. Stephen Amell rose to prominence for playing Oliver Queen in The CW television series Arrow, which aired from 2012 to 2020 with an impressive eight seasons. With an 86% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, Arrow kickstarted the crossovers of multiple TV shows in the “Arrowverse,” and became one of the most popular and longest-running DC shows.

Stephen Amell has done many things since leaving Arrow, from professional wrestling to starring in the upcoming Suits spinoff, Suits: L.A. However, one of Stephen Amell’s most prominent roles in addition to Oliver Queen actually happened during the height of Arrow’s popularity in 2016. Following the success of the 2014 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, which was produced by Michael Bay, Stephen Amell appeared in the 2016 sequel as the vigilante known as Casey Jones.

Stephen Amell Played Vigilante Parody Casey Jones In TMNT: Out Of The Shadows

Casey Jones’ Character Is Similar To Oliver Queen

Stephen Amell played Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows, a H๏τ-headed vigilante (and ally to the turtles) who wears a hockey mask. TMNT originally started as a dark comic book series that was both a parody and a love letter to gritty superhero comics like Daredevil. Casey Jones was an example of this, with his penchant for extreme violence and simplistic weapons of choice, which is why it’s interesting that Stephen Amell, who was playing a serious and popular DC Comics vigilante at the time, also played Casey Jones.

Interestingly, Arrow also pulled heavily from the same gritty eras of Daredevil and Batman that TMNT’s creators were inspired by. Stephen Amell acknowledged the similarities between his characters in an interview with Flickering Myth in 2015, stating that, “Obviously the similarities are right there on the surface,” and that Casey Jones “is almost […] like the Oliver Queen that people know from the older comic books.” Yet there have been many different versions of Casey Jones over the years, as TMNT has often ventured between animated and live-action mediums.

How Stephen Amell’s Casey Jones Compared To Previous Versions

Amell’s Casey Jones Was Different In A Few Ways

Casey Jones has lead roles in over half of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies as an ally to the turtles despite his violent vigilante tendencies. Casey Jones has been considered the fifth turtle brother in some instances. In the films, his motive and hockey weapon of choice are sometimes explained by a previous career as an ice hockey player, while others portray him as just a delivery man. However, there are plenty of attributes that each variation of Casey Jones seems to share, such as his hatred of the Purple Dragons and his love interest, April O’Neil.

Stephen Amell’s version of Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows is older than the usual character, and has a different profession. As a prison guard, Casey Jones in the 2016 movie dreamed of being an NYC Detective but winds up becoming a vigilante when tracking down the Foot Clan. This is a much different character than previously shown in the TMNT franchise as Amell’s Casey Jones only seems to fight crime alone when he feels there is no other choice, whereas previous versions of the character show little reservation about getting involved with vigilantism.

Why Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows Never Got A Sequel

A Third Film Was Scrapped After 2016’s Box Office Failure

Unfortunately for Stephen Amell, the Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies failed when the sequel made less than the first movie. On a budget of $135 million, the 2016 TMNT sequel only grossed $245 million, making it a box office bomb. In contrast, 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles grossed $485 million against a similar budget, which is nearly double what the sequel earned. Therefore, a planned third movie was scrapped. More recently, the turtles returned to the big screen with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

However, reviews for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows were more positive than the 2014 movie. The first movie was heavily criticized for its screenplay and all-over-the-place tone, with the sequel having a more concise story and feeling more like a 1990s TMNT episode. Furthermore, Out Of The Shadows landed on Netflix’s Top 10 Most Popular Movies chart in 2024, a surprising redemption. With such a mixed response, Stephen Amell’s version of Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows may have been overlooked when it was originally released.

Sources: Flickering Myth.