Credit: Paramount PicturesThe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has undergone many reinventions since its Mirage Comics debut in 1984, spanning cartoon shows, live-action movies, games, and toys.
But while our favorite pizza-munching martial-arts reptiles Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael have mostly remained the same in their ever-evolving universe, some of the other characters—in particular, their famous enemies—have changed drastically.
Related: Paramount Confirms Five R-Rated TMNT Projects, Two Coming This Year
Changes to TMNT Across Film and TV
The TMNT film and TV scheduling have recently undergone major changes, too. A planned film adaptation of the popular comic book series The Last Ronin was canceled, with Paramount Pictures admitting that they didn’t want the franchise’s first live-action film in over 10 years (since 2016’s Out of the Shadows) to be R-rated.
Following that news, the studio announced a replacement movie; an untitled family-friendly reboot set for release in November 2028.
The 2D animated series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—the small-screen companion to the 3D animated box-office hit Mutant Mayhem—was also canceled after just two seasons on Paramount+. However, Paramount is still moving forward with a theatrical sequel to the 2023 film, which grossed $180.5 million worldwide against its $70 million budget and received mostly positive reviews from longtime fans, audiences, and critics.
Directed by Jeff Rowe and produced by Seth Rogen, Mutant Mayhem stars Micah Abbey (Donatello), Shamon Brown Jr. (Michelangelo), Nicolas Cantu (Leonardo), and Brady Noon (Raphael).
The supporting voice cast includes Jackie Chan (Splinter), Ayo Edebiri (April O’Neil), Seth Rogen (Bebop), John Cena (Rocksteady), Hannibal Buress (Genghis Frog), Ice Cube (Superfly), Post Malone (Ray Fillet), Paul Rudd (Mondo Gecko), Giancarlo Esposito (Baxter Stockman), Rose Byrne (Leatherhead), Maya Rudolph (Cynthia Utrom), and Natasia Demetriou (Wingnut).
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Mutant Mayhem 2 Confirms Iconic Villains
A sequel was announced before Mutant Mayhem was released, with Rowe back at the helm and the main voice cast reprising their roles. We also know that the film will feature the Turtles’ iconic nemesis, The Shredder, who was teased at the end of the 2023 film.
Now, per ScreenRant, it was confirmed during Paramount’s presentation at CinemaCon 2026 in Las Vegas that Krang—the alien general from Dimension X who often teams up with The Shredder to try and take down the half-shell heroes—will also appear.
However, fans hoping for traditional portrayals of these characters might need to brace themselves for some big changes. Mutant Mayhem made major alterations to many supporting characters’ origin stories, while also changing some of their genders.
The mutant alligator Leatherhead (Rose Byrne), the mutant cockroach Scumbug (Alex Hirsch), and the mutant bat-like creature Wingnut (Natasia Demetriou), who are originally male characters, were portrayed as female characters in the 2023 film.
Will The Shredder Be Female in Mutant Mayhem 2?
While The Shredder will presumably still be male in the sequel—as Rowe referred to the character using “He/Him” pronouns in an interview with Collider in 2023—it’s possible the iconic villain will be depicted as female in the upcoming film. Here are Rowe’s comments:
“That is exactly what I am trying to figure out and what my next meeting will be about. That is what we are in the thick of now. Shredder is just a great character. He’s an iconic, classic, loved character. He’s like the Joker. You know who he is, even if you’re not a fan of the source material. I think we definitely wanna do a villain-forward film. We’re currently trying to make decisions about that, but those decisions for us as filmmakers will always come from the place of what tells the best story, specifically about our main characters, the Turtles.”
Of course, the director could simply be referring to the more generalized version of The Shredder and may also be trying to keep things under wraps. As for Krang, that character was seemingly portrayed as female in the first film, in the form of Cynthia Utrom (Maya Rudolph), an executive at the Techno Cosmic Research Institute. “Utrom” is the name sometimes given to Krang’s species. More often than not, Krang (or Kraang) appears as a singular character; however, in the 2012 animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles it is the collective given to the entire race.
With that said, it’s unclear if Cynthia Utrom will be Mutant Mayhem 2‘s Krang, although it’s worth noting that she’s the one who enlists The Shredder’s help at the end of the first film.
Mutant Mayhem 2 was originally set to release in theaters on October 9, 2026, but it was later pushed back to September 17, 2027, before being moved up again to August 13, 2027.
Do you think the TMNT franchise should make these changes to The Shredder and Krang? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
