Paramount Pictures, one of the few legacy studios to appear at San Diego Comic-Con 2023, brought the animated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” to the Hall H stage on Thursday.
Without talent in tow, director Jeff Rowe and “TMNT” creator Kevin Eastoman took the Hall H stage and kicked off the panel with a sizzle reel that featured a look back at the Turtles from the 1990s New Line movie all the way up to the beloved animated series. In the sizzle, producer Seth Rogen said he was eight years old when the New Line film first came out and even added that his father bought him nunchucks.
Rogen and Ice Cube, who plays Superfly in the animated film, added that they wanted to “give the turtles real teenager problems.”
The panel then previewed 20 minutes of footage from the film. Some highlights included the turtles arming their various ninja weapons and hitting the New York City rooftops, Jackie Chan’s Master Splinter narrating the origin of how he and the turtles came to be, and the turtles first meeting with April O’Neal (voiced by “The Bear” star Ayo Edebiri).
Creator Kevin Eastman, who celebrated his 38th year coming to con, came out to the Hall H stage and thanked the crowd. “Almost 40 years later I am still drawing turtles,” Eastman said.
A special announcement was made that the 1987 animated Turtles tv show is coming Nickelodeon.
A final reel was shown which introduced Ice Cube’s villainous Superfly and his crew which features fan favorites BeBop and Rocksteady.
Directed by Jeff Rowe and written by Rowe, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is a new take on the “TMNT” comics characters with a specific emphasis on them as teenagers, drawing inspiration from classic coming-of-age films.
Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu and Brady Noon voice the titular turtles, while the ensemble voice cast also includes Jackie Chan as Splinter, Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, Seth Rogen as Bebop and John Cena as Rocksteady alongside Post Malone, Rose Byrne, Ice Cube, Giancarlo Esposito, Maya Rudolph and Hannibal Buress.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” opens exclusively in theaters on August 2.
