credit: Street Sharks
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle craze that has lasted for decades and waxed and waned from year to year has managed to inspire a few other cartoons that have come along, and Street Sharks is just one of them. What differentiates the Sharks from the Turtles, though, is that the Turtles were an accidental transformation brought on by a radioactive ooze that affected them and their sensei, Splinter. The Sharks were made purposefully, even if it wasn’t something that was desired, and their enemies and allies were also created, or in the case of the dinosaur hybrids that came along, later on, were aliens from another world. In other words, things got crazy after a while since the Turtles and the ooze went out of control at some point, while the Sharks saw science create just about anything and everything possible to solve a problem that had already been created. Given that this cartoon came about in the 90s, it’s fair to state that it did earn enough attention to be popular for a little while, but regardless of any arguments, it’s easy to think that most who watched it might need a reminder of what it was about.
credit: Street Sharks
Should a reboot even be considered?
That’s a matter of opinion since bringing this show back would be interesting, but it feels as though it would be better off as a hybrid show that mixes live-action and CGI in a manner that might be kind of intriguing. Their story sounds exceedingly simple and worthy of something that would be taken on as a project, but it does feel as though it might need to change a bit here and there. Human/shark hybrids are an idea that sounds like it could go off the rails in a big way, but seeing how King Shark was actually one of the characters that people loved in The Suicide Squad, it might be that folks are ready to see something like this.
It’s likely that the Street Sharks wouldn’t be seen as copycats at this point.
Even if their story wasn’t the same as the Turtles, the timing was enough to make a lot of people feel that they were a show that copied the basic idea of the Turtles since anthropomorphized animals became a big thing in the 90s. Almost every other story marketed for kids and adolescents would have something to do with animals acting like humans, and to be honest, it became old very quickly. One could say that this trend started a lot earlier, but the 90s made it clear that this was what people wanted, at least until it became worn out. As of now, though, there are so many different cartoons and shows spread between the streaming channels and movies that Street Sharks might have a chance to shine once again. The show did have a fanbase that was impressive enough to keep it around for three seasons, but after a while, it’s easy to say that the general idea had worn out as alien dinosaurs had come to ally with the shark,s, and things were spinning off the rails in a way that made it clear that it couldn’t be fixed that easily.
credit: Street Sharks
A reboot would need to be handled carefully to preserve the core story.
Just trying to imagine what would happen if this reboot was to be taken seriously is enough to make a person think that somewhere along the way, the core elements of the story would be messed with a few tweaks that might be seen as common sense, but would essentially change the way this tale goes. This has already happened with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as it’s been seen in their last two movies, and a lot of fans have responded in a way that was less than satisfactory. But with the Sharks, it’s easy to think that there are a lot of things that could get screwed up, especially the whole idea of anyone having their genes spliced with a shark means that a lot of things might need to happen to make it work in a way that fans would accept.
It’s possible this could work if the story was kept simple.
When looking at how the series ended up going, it’s not hard at all to say that if this reboot did happen, it’s absolutely necessary that it be kept as simple as possible in order to avoid confusing the fans. While the animated series didn’t do this, it stands to reason that a live-action reboot would do best if it did stick to the story of the Sharks and nothing else. The Sharks, their main enemy, and the overall story of how they started out would be all that’s needed to generate interest.
At least, that’s how it feels like it should work.