It’s hard to know exactly where to start here. Should I start with my not-so-secret love for the Ninja Turtles? About how much they were apart of my childhood and how obsessed I was with them? Should I drone on about how Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were comic gods? How their story inspired little comic artists everywhere to dream big and shoot for the moon? Maybe I can mention how much I still enjoy the 90’s live action movies, how my wife and I own the DVD box set of every season of the TMNT cartoons, and that I’m currently keeping up with the sprawling IDW TMNT comic event The Armageddon Game. Okay, maybe I’ll just start by saying the teaser trailer of the new TMNT movie, Mutant Mayhem, looks pretty stellar and I can’t wait to see it on the big screen!
Seth Rogen’s reboot (new take? re-imagining? I’m not sure what to call it) dropped a teaser trailer yesterday and the film looks incredible. Of course it’s giving me some serious Enter the Spiderverse vibes with the stylized animation. That film won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, the Golden Globe and the BAFTA awards for the same category. Could we actually see a TMNT film get some Oscar buzz? Who would have thought? But pretentious star-studded awards ceremonies aside this movie just looks like a lot of fun.
One of the more notable difference in this film from those that came before it (animation style aside) is that the turtles look and sound like actual teenagers. Both live action films-the 90’s and the Michael Bay films-had beefed up, muscle bound turtles that we were supposed to believe were teenagers. But, throwing in the words “dude” and “totally” doesn’t really do the trick. No shade, just facts. But these turtles are…kids. From the looks of this teaser trailer, it seems that the writers let that shine through.
The teaser, of course, left a lot of things unsaid. The title says “Mutant Mayhem” and the character list is extensive: Bebop, Rock Steady, Mondo Gecko, Wing Nut, Genghis Frog, Baxter Stockman…and more! Of which we only got a sneak peek at Bebop and Rocksteady. I’m also trying not to draw parallel lines to the current IDW TMNT storyline that has an entire mutant town smack dab in the middle of New York City. There’s so many mutants! And the title is literally Mutant Mayhem. AAgh!
Okay, to say the least, I’m pumped about the movie. It looks great, it’s got a great cast of voice actors backing up the animation. And it’s got a great team at the helm: Jeff Rowe from The Mitchells Versus the Machines and Gravity Falls. Kyler Spears from The Mitchells Versus the Machines as well. Not to mention Seth Rogan as one of the producers who was also executive producer on Invincible and The Boys. These…among others. All this-and it was just a teaser!
TMNT Mutant Mayhem will release this Summer on August 4th, 2023.