Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem has a pretty stacked cast: John Cena as Rocksteady, Ice Cube as Superfly, Ayo Edebiri as April O'Neil, Seth Rogen (who also co-wrote) as Bebop, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Rose Bryne as Leatherhead, Post Malone as Ray Fillet and, well, the list goes on.
But the biggest star of all? That probably has to go to Jackie Chan as Splinter, the Turtles’ mentor and father figure. And director Jeff Rowe was just as surprised as anyone that they were able to get him, he told IGN in an interview during our San Diego Comic-Con live show.
“We wanted him to do this and we had no idea,” he said. “We were like, ‘he’ll never say yes to this but let’s try it.’ But he was in. He was familiar with the franchise.”
When asked what Chan adds to Splinter, Rowe said he adds “humanity” and “a lot of warmth” to everyone’s favorite mutant rat.
“We needed Splinter to be this loving dad character and Splinter’s got some crazy notions about humans, and he’s also pretty strict with the kids,” he went on. “And you need someone who’s just so likable and loveable that even when Splinter’s being hard, the audience doesn’t turn on him. You still like him and love him.”
And while Splinter has always acted as a paternal figure to the teenagers, Mutant Mayhem has really leaned into this. As IGN’s Brian Altano points out during the interview, the turtles even say “sorry, Dad” in one of the early trailers.
“It felt important to really make them a family and explore that style of family, where it’s single dad, four kids,” Rowe said. “He’s trying his best and it’s really hard because he did not expect to become a father.”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem hits theaters on Aug. 2.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
