The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been such an enduring concept, in part because everything you need to know about the characters is right there in the title. They are mutant turtles who do martial arts, and they like to party and eat pizza because they are teenagers. The simplicity of that concept has allowed TMNT to remain a pop culture phenomenon since the launch of their first animated series in 1987 up through today.
Paramount Studios is planning on banking on that popularity by ordering more Turtles content. However, instead of just doing another series about Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo, Paramount is doing several shows, a movie, an updated toy line, and more, each for very different audiences. The strategy embraces the inherent elasticity of the Turtles, which have always worked best when reinterpreted for different audiences.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio is still planning to make a sequel to Mutant Mayhem, the well-received animated reimagining from 2023. However, it is also giving the green light to Teeny Mutant Ninja Turtles, “30-episode CG-animated series exploring the early days of the brothers as ninjas-in-training” in the vein of the pre-K focused Spidey and his Amazing Friends. At the same time, the studio is developing an R-rated movie adaptation of The Last Ronin, a bleak dystopian tale about Michelangelo continuing the fight after the death of his brothers.
That’s three very different versions of the Turtles, but multiple versions of the team have always coexisted—even if the rights holders acted like there was only one. As most fans know, the Turtles came to be when cartoonists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird self-published their black and white Daredevil homage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 in 1984. Three years later, the duo softened their characters for a younger audience by licensing the Turtles to toy maker Playmates. The toy deal led to the creation of the 1987 animated series, a smash hit that sold not just toys, but also tie-in food, clothes, and, of course, a rock album and concert tour.
