Here’s some cowabunga-worthy news: the heroes in a half-shell will officially be back. One of the greatest cinematic delights of 2023 was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – the all-action animated adventure from director Jeff Rowe and writer-producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, which dared to make the teenage turtles actual teenagers, and doused the entire affair in a distinctive fuzzy-pencil art style and ‘90s hip-hop hits to boot. It was a moderate hit at the box office and received a raft of positive reviews – and now a sequel is officially confirmed.
As unveiled in a Paramount release slate, the follow-up to Mutant Mayhem is underway, and expected to release on 9 October 2026. Director Jeff Rowe is expected to return, and it seems like the four turtle actors – Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu and Brady Noon – and April O’Neal vocal star Ayo Edebiri will follow suit. As teased at the end of the first film, the sequel will bring in Turtles big-bad Shredder – and as Rowe teased to Empire last year, his arrival will seriously up the stakes. “The one thing I can say without spoiling anything is, [Shredder] needs to be 100 times scarier than Superfly – who is a credible villain, he’s dangerous, he’s strong, he seems like he could mess the Turtles up,” he explained. “Shredder needs to be that, just significantly more. It’ll be really interesting to see these fun-loving characters go up against something that maybe they can’t stop.”
While there’s a couple-of-years wait in store (understandable given the wow-factor of Mutant Mayhem’s animation style), there’s plenty more Turtacular goodness arriving in the meantime. Tie-in cartoon series Tales Of The Teenage Mutant Turtles will bring the full complement of half-shelled heroes back, and a video game is in the works too. We’ll take all the Mutant Mayhem-affiliated mayhem we can get.