Credit: Paramount PicturesThough many fans are excited about the upcoming TMNT installment, which will be the first geared towards an adult audience that isn’t a comic book, there are some that may wind up feeling conflicted about the premise.
Recently, Polygon reported that a brand-new Ninja Turtles video game is in the works, which is already being compared to the Gods of War gaming titles. Based off the popular IDW Publishing comic book series “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin” (2020), the project is a “Triple-A” game (the gaming industry’s equivalent to a blockbuster movie), and has been described by Doug Rosen, Senior Vice President for Games and Emerging Media at Paramount Global, as being tailored towards a mature audience, saying that it will not be “dialled back to make [the game] something it shouldn’t be”.
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He also confirmed that the game would follow “The Last Ronin” from a character perspective, focusing largely on lone Turtle Michelangelo, while his three brothers Raphael, Donatello, and Leonardo, who, along with Master Splinter, are all dead in “The Last Ronin”, may appear in a playable format in flashback sequences.
So, it sounds like the upcoming TMNT installment, whose official title is yet to be revealed, will be taking many pages out of its comic book-counterpart, which makes a lot of sense seeing as it’s the source material. However, a follow-up series titled “The Lost Years”, whose issues are being released over the course of the coming months, may also be incorporated into the game.
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This would make perfect sense, as the new series acts as both a prequel and a sequel to “The Last Ronin”. As a prequel, it expands upon the flashbacks from the flagship comic that detail Michelangelo’s time following the death of his family, and how he became “Ronin”.
As a sequel, “The Lost Years” details the origins of four brand-new Ninja Turtles, whose names are Odyn, Yi, Moja, and Uno, two of whom are female, and who are being hand-reared by April O’Neil’s daughter Casey Marie in the old Turtles’ sewer lair. At this point in the timeline, Michelangelo too has long since perished, following his climactic battle with the main antagonist of “The Last Ronin” — The Shredder’s grandson Oroku Hiroto.
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Will The Last Ronin game feature these new Turtles in some shape or form? While it’s likely the game will be based solely on “The Last Ronin” and not the follow-up, it’s possible it will lean into a sequel, or that these new characters will show up in a separate game. Either way, many fans won’t be happy that two female Ninja Turtles have entered the fold (remember the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot?)
And if the last few weeks have taught as anything, it’s that, like any other major franchise, TMNT is not immune to controversy, as the new trailer for upcoming animated reboot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) has already been lambasted by trolls online, due to it featuring an African-American version of April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri).
There’s every chance that the The Last Ronin will be a renaissance of sorts for Ninja Turtles in gaming, given all the family-friendly titles that have dominated consoles over the last 40 years. But if the developers decide to include the new characters, then we may have another Hogwarts Legacy (2023) on our hands.
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Mutant Mayhem follows previous TMNT movies Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), TMNT (2007), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016).
Check out the brand-new trailer for Mutant Mayhem below:
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As per Wikipedia, here’s the official synopsis for Mutant Mayhem:
After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtles set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a notorious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.
Related: Is the New ‘Ninja Turtles’ Film Canon With Any of the Previous Installments?
Mutant Mayhem stars Nicolas Cantu (Leonardo), Micah Abbey (Donatello), Shamon Brown Jr. (Michelangelo), Brady Noon (Raphael), Jackie Chan (Splinter), Ayo Edebiri (April O’Neil), Seth Rogen (Bebop), John Cena (Rocksteady), Hannibal Buress (Genghis Frog), Rose Byrne (Leatherhead), Ice Cube (Superfly), Post Malone (Ray Fillet), Paul Rudd (Mondo Gecko), Maya Rudolph (Cynthia Utrom), Natasia Demetriou (Wingnut), and Giancarlo Esposito (Baxter Stockman).
Mutant Mayhem (2023) will be released in theaters on August 4, 2023.
Related: ‘Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ Full Characters and Cast Guide
Are you excited for the upcoming TMNT installment? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below!