Credit: Paramount Animation / Nickelodeon Movies Will the Turtles be the same without him?
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has a surprisingly deep and rich mythology. Casual fans know the main cast, Raphael, Donatello, Michaelangelo, Leonardo, and even Splinter and April O’Neil. They probably even know about The Shredder. Less fans know about characters like Bebop and Rocksteady or Tokka and Rahzar. Even fewer fans would recognize obscure characters like those listed in the cast of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem(2023).
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Fans of both the comic books, as well as the 1980s animated series will recognize quite a few of those names as some pretty deep cuts into the TMNT mythos. People like Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito), Genghis Frog (Hannibal Buress), Mondo Gecko (Paul Rudd), and the half-dozen others announced as part of the cast are characters that, in many cases, haven’t been since the late 80s and early 90s at the most recent!
This, coupled with the endearing animation style, has renewed fans’ faith in the Seth Rogen-headed project. Perhaps this will be a more faithful adaptation than the most recent Michael Bay franchise. Maybe Rogen plans to take more inspiration from the comics and the cartoons and bring what fans of those offerings loved to a new generation! Except for, it seems, one character.
Fan favorite character, Casey Jones, is notably absent from the casting announcement, the trailer, and all other released information. This hasn’t sat too well with fans, as CBR reported earlier this week. Dozens of fans took to Twitter after the trailer hit and expressed, in no uncertain terms, their displeasure with Rogen and his team for leaving out Casey Jones while including so many other classic TMNT characters on the roster!
To be fair, as CBR points out in their article, no one involved with the film has either confirmed or denied that Jones won’t be appearing in the movie. After all, there are a lot of characters, and this film does focus on a younger group of Turtles than audiences have seen in the past. It could very well be that Casey Jones is a character that may be seen in future offerings if Mutant Mayhem does well, or even as a post-credit cameo! If not him, then maybe The Shredder, who also hasn’t been heard from regarding this new film…
Related: Is the New ‘Ninja Turtles’ Film Canon With Any of the Previous Installments?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem hits theaters on August 4, 2023. The new reboot of the classic franchise stars Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo, Micah Abbey as Donatello, Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, Brady Noon as Raphael, Jackie Chan as Splinter, Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, Seth Rogen as Bebop, John Cena as Rocksteady and a whole host of other characters as various heroes and villains! The new reboot will see the Turtles as they try and win over New York City, with the help of April (Edebiri), as they face down a veritable army of mutants!
What do you think about Mutant Mayhem omitting Casey Jones? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below!