It’s official! Actor Stephen Amell will be playing Casey Jones in the highly-anticipated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequel.
The Arrow star will apparently be taking a break from using a bow-and-arrow on the small screen to possibly using a hockey stick and mask on the big-screen.
Amell confirmed the news on his official Facebook page Tuesday.
In the original 1990s TMNT movie franchise, Casey Jones was played by Chicago P.D. actor Elias Koteas.
Even though Koteas is 54-years-old now, quite a few people have already tweeted their wishes for him to reprise the role instead.
Stephen Amell as the new Casey Jones in TMNT 2? I say bring back Elias Koteas! pic.twitter.com/s9scihvXYy
— Sean Fitzgerald (@SeanDFitzgerald) April 1, 2015
The only real Casey Jones is Elias Koteas. — Alicia Hardin (@AliciaHardin) March 31, 2015
No one will be as good as Elias Koteas as Casey Jones. At least I still won’t have to see any of the new TMNT movies
— Christina Carey (@NinaDance09) March 31, 2015
However, chances are that the Michael Bay-produced film crew (including director Dave Green) was searching for a younger Casey Jones to play in this particular film — which is why they went for 33-year-old Stephen Amell instead of Koteas.
Fortunately, there are many other fans and critics that absolutely love the idea of Stephen Amell putting on the hockey mask to play one of the most iconic characters in the TMNT universe.
In the best news I’ve ever heard, Stephen Amell has been cast as Casey Jones for #TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2 ! pic.twitter.com/3eu2NEHWgB
— Atomic Geekdom (@AtomicGeekdom) March 31, 2015
Stephen Amell as Casey Jones in TMNT2 almost makes me want to watch the thing. Almost.
— Morgan Jeffery (@morganjeffery) March 31, 2015
I hope the Stephen Amell as Casey Jones news is true, because that’s kind of perfect.
— Brian Dagley (@ShukuenShinobi) March 31, 2015
In addition, Amell definitely has the experience when it comes to playing a masked vigilante, since that is basically what he has been doing on Arrow for three seasons so far.
Multiple reports claim that Megan Fox will be reprising her role as April O’Neill and William Fichtner will return as Eric Sacks. Quite a few celebrities and athletes will reportedly be making cameo appearances in the film as well — including several of the Los Angeles Clippers , and Victoria’s Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio.
The follow-up film to the 2014 reboot, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , is currently scheduled to be released on June 3, 2016.
With the ongoing success of Arrow on the small screen and the blockbuster success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big-screen, fans of Stephen Amell might be seeing the Canadian actor play a masked vigilante for many years to come.
[Image Credit: Getty Images]
