Well, big news is ALL over the internet right now – We’ve got new episodes starting up next week in a Friday night prime-time Premiere, and we’ve got new characters coming out of the woodwork!

According to Yahoo News:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is back with new episodes starting Friday, Jan. 25, 7/6c with “I, Monster.” In that episode, the Turtles face a new enemy, The Rat King. Nickelodeon will air a Ninja Turtles marathon that night as part of its “Total Turtle Takeover.” After that, new episodes will premiere in the show’s regular time slot, Saturdays at 11am/10c.

So we’ll finally be seeing the Rat King in all his decomposed glory..

We also had some updates regarding sneak peeks at some of the upcoming characters. First, it’s been confirmed that none other than Roseanne Barr is going to voice the evil “Queen Bee” of the Kraang. We’ll be hearing her cackle during the big Season Finale.

We’ve also learned that the buxom beauty once known as Elvira is going to be voicing a Genome scientist known only as Mrs Campbell – who strangely has found April quite Interesting… which could be good OR bad, depending on your personal take…

Next, we’ve also been confirmed that the one and only Corey Feldman will be making a return to the Turtle realm in the second season. He made a big hit as the original voice of Donatello in the first movie back in the early 90s. Some speculation is that he will be none other than the possible “April love interest” Casey Jones. If you’ve been peeking at the graffiti throughout the episodes, you may have been lucky to see some of his tags..

Last, but not least… and the one I wanted to leave to last… Kelly Hu, who’s been in just about EVERYthing, from Phineas and Ferb to XMen to Vampire Diaries and currently, Arrow (my personal favorite ATM), will be the voice of our upcoming villainess Karai.

Now, I’m sure some of you are staring at the picture up above and wondering what the design crew was thinking. I’ll admit, My gut reaction at first was,”She looks like she’s got a unibrow.” Some joked that if she is ‘as lethal as she is beautiful’, she’s going to be an easy target. But looking at this more, I can understand Some of the elements the design team used…

She looks older than the boys… like, closer to 17 years old. Plus, that pose and facial expression is not the most photogenic look for Anyone. So she’s not going to have the soft round face like April… the typical smarmy antagonist is going to jut their chin out like a jerk.

In the matter of her Wolverine Hair: She’s been raised as a warrior. Long hair is going to be a nuisance and probably less of a hazard if it’s been cut short. The bangs… probably the only thing to show her as female compared to the rest of the foot when in uniform. *shrug*

Personally, I’d like to see MORE pictures of her, maybe some different angles or poses, so we can get a better picture of what she’s going to look like. I’ve has my suspicions that Karai may be none other than Splinter’s ‘lost’ daughter Miwa, but… time will tell.

The show has not disappointed us with the character designs, so let’s give her a chance and see what else comes out.

Cheers!

~Machias