Seth Rogen’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film has officially been titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and is set to hit theaters next summer. Rogen and longtime collaborator Evan Goldberg’s new take on the crime-fighting reptiles will reportedly heavily focus on the “teenage” element of the titular turtles while leaning into the comic books. The teen aspect of the Mutant Ninja Turtles is something that Rogen has long wanted to explore, saying in a 2020 interview with Collider:

With that, let’s look at everything we know. Where will Rogen’s teenage approach take the Turtles? Who can we expect to see in the cast? When and where can we see the film? And what else should audiences know about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem?

“As a lifelong fan of Ninja Turtles, weirdly the ‘Teenage’ part of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was always the part that stuck out to me the most. And as someone who loves teenage movies, and who’s made a lot of teenage movies, and who literally got their start in their entire profession by writing a teenage movie, the idea of kind of honing in on that element was really exciting to us.”

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Mutant Mayhem: The Plot

     Nickelodeon

We know Rogen’s take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will focus on the Turtles being teens and will offer a play on the conventional coming-of-age story. Beyond that, there is very little to go on plot-wise. However, given the title and previous turtle adaptations, we can make some guesses as to what we are likely to see.

RELATED: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Creator Doesn’t Want Seth Rogan to be Intimidated

The title, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, suggests that the film will lean heavily into mutants. The mutant characters from previous TV series and movies may return and pose a new threat to the Turtles. Perhaps they could also encounter some new antagonistic mutants. Whatever the case, we can reasonably expect some showdown with the Turtles and mutants.

There are no additional characters confirmed to appear yet, besides the turtles. However, we anticipate familiar allies and foes appearing in this new outing. Longtime human friend and confidant April O’Neil is a safe bet, as is her love interest, vigilante Casey Jones. These two have appeared in many of the films and TV series to assist the Turtles in their quests. Trainer and sensei Master Splinter will most likely show up to train the turtles in their missions. It also wouldn’t be a TMNT film without lead antagonists Shredder and the Foot Clan. Even if this film chooses to introduce a new antagonist, Shredder should still appear in some capacity.

Again, this is all speculation about what could happen and which characters we might see. We will likely have to wait until we are closer to the release date for more concrete plot details.

Mutant Mayhem: The Cast

     Paramount Pictures

We don’t yet know who will be taking on the voices of the Ninja Turtles, but we know that the casting process will stick with the theme of emphasizing teenagers. Rogen has confirmed that the production team is casting actual teenagers in the roles of the four Turtles. This marks a significant departure from previous installments, where the turtles were all voiced by adult actors. Having actual teenagers take on the Turtles’ voices will lend more weight to the story’s coming-of-age element and help the characters feel more authentic in the process.

Some of the big names featured as Mutant Turtle voices in previous installments included Cam Clarke, Seth Green, Ben Schwartz, Rob Paulsen, Sean Astin, Greg Cipes, Eric Bauza, Johnny Knoxville, and many others. It’s safe to assume that none of these stars will have a role in the new film.

RELATED: Could Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pave the Way for a Live-Action Sequel?

Notably, this does not mention whether they will recast additional returning characters. If characters like April O’Neil and Splinter do appear, we can anticipate that they will also receive the new voice treatment. This voice recasting likely will not cause as much of a stir among fans as other animated replacements (Lightyear, anyone?) due to the fact that the Turtles and their allies received new voices in almost every previous incarnation.

We can expect to learn who will be taking the Turtles’ mantle, as well as additional casting confirmations, in the upcoming weeks and months.

Release Date

     Netflix

Paramount Pictures will release Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem in theaters on August 4, 2023. This is almost exactly one year to the day after Netflix’s Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, an adaptation of the popular Nickelodeon series, was released on August 5, 2022.

Audiences can also look forward to a new live-action film produced by none other than Michael Bay, the talent behind the two mid-2010s live-action Turtles films. As we know, these films were widely regarded by critics as the pinnacle of motion-capture Turtle superhero cinema.