Warning: this article contains spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Be sure to check out IGN's review of Mutant Mayhem.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has taken a number of forms over the decades, transforming first from a gritty indie comic to a family-friendly animated series to a relatively darker live-action movie. Many new takes on the franchise have followed over the years, and each makes some changes to the established formula. But rarely has a new TMNT project shaken things up as much as Mutant Mayhem.
From reimagined villains to a very different version of April O’Neil, let’s break down the biggest changes introduced in Mutant Mayhem.
Splinter’s Origin Story
Splinter’s origin story tends to vary from one incarnation of the TMNT franchise to the next. In some cases, like the original Mirage comics and the 1990 movie, Splinter is depicted as the pet rat of Japanese martial artist Hamato Yoshi. In other versions, like the 1987 animated series and the contemporary IDW comics, Splinter is Hamato Yoshi himself. But either way, Splinter is a character inextricably linked to the mortal enemy of Shredder.
Mutant Mayhem doesn’t stick to that formula. As far as the movie would have us believe, this version of Splinter (voiced by Jackie Chan) has no connection to Yoshi. He was never human, and he appears to have spent his life living as a common rat in the streets of New York before being exposed to the TCRI mutagen.
We learn Splinter became a master of the martial arts specifically because of his agoraphobia and mistrust of his fellow New Yorkers. He learned the skills necessary to defend himself and passed them on to his four sons. It’s always possible that Mutant Mayhem’s follow-ups will restore some of Splinter’s missing backstory, but as things stand right now, he’s a very different character in both background and temperament.
Shredder’s Absence
Not only is Splinter a very different character in Mutant Mayhem, but the movie also deviates from the usual path when it comes to Splinter’s arch-enemy Shredder. In this case, it diverges by barely mentioning Shredder at all. In most incarnations of the franchise, Shredder is the first major villain the Turtles go up against. His early crime sprees usually draw the Turtles out of the sewers and into conflict with the Foot Clan.
Even Shredder and Splinter’s respective origin stories are often closely intertwined. For example, the 1990 movie established Oroku Saki and Hamato Yoshi as rivals and Splinter as the one who scarred Saki’s face. IDW’s comics have taken things several steps further, revealing Splinter and the Turtles to be reincarnated versions of humans killed by the Foot Clan many years before.
None of that appears to be influencing Mutant Mayhem’s take on Shredder, however. We only catch a brief glimpse of the villain during the film’s mid-credits scene, which sets him up to be the warrior Cynthia Utrom hires to track down and capture the Turtles. Does he have any connection to Splinter? Does the Foot Clan exist in this universe? We’ll have to wait for the spinoff series or sequel movie to find out.
April O’Neil: Teen Reporter
Another way Mutant Mayhem sets itself apart from previous animated incarnations of the TMNT is that it’s project which really leans into the idea of the Turtles being young, with all the angst and awkwardness that comes with that territory.
The same goes for Ayo Edebiri’s April O’Neil. who’s still a high schooler in the movie. That’s a big change from most versions of the franchise, where April is normally depicted as a young adult who works either as a news reporter or a lab technician.
April being a teenager winds up playing a major part in the film’s conflict. We learn the character is an aspiring journalist who struggles with being camera-shy. She’s dealt a major blow to her reputation when she vomits all over the set while trying to read the morning announcements. This version of April is young, hungry and looking to boost her credibility, which she accomplishes with a little help from her mutant friends.
The Other Mutants
Mutant Mayhem features a surprisingly large cast of TMNT mutants considering its relatively lean runtime. Everyone from Bebop and Rocksteady to Leatherhead to Mondo Gecko are featured in the film. Mutant Mayhem juggles this large cast by giving them all a shared origin. They’re all offshoots of Baxter Stockman’s (Giancarlo Esposito) research, created by Superfly (Ice Cube) to fill out the ranks of his mutant gang.
Not only does this serve to streamline their respective origin stories, this approach also alters the motivations of many of these characters. Bebop and Rocksteady are normally portrayed as villains in the TMNT franchise - musclebound brutes who serve as hired muscle to Shredder or Krang. But in Mutant Mayhem, they aren’t really villains, just misguided mutants going along with Superfly’s plan until they finally see the light. By the end of the film, all of these mutant characters are seen fighting alongside the Turtles against Superfly.
As for Superfly himself, he’s essentially a new character created for the film. Normally, Baxter Stockman transforms into a mutant human/fly hybrid, but here it’s instead his pet fly who’s exposed to the mutagen. Stockman himself only plays a small role in the film before being killed by Cynthia Utrom’s (Maya Rudolph) strike team.
In an interview with Collider, director Jeff Rowe revealed that Stockman was meant to become Superfly in an earlier version of the film, but plans shifted over time.
Coming Out of Their Shells
As we mentioned before, Mutant Mayhem is unique in that it really leans into the idea of the Turtles being actual teenagers. Even the voice actors for the four Turtles are teens themselves. That plays into one of the more interesting subplots in the movie - their desire to venture out into the world and attend high school.
Normally, the Turtles tend to stick to the shadows and do their best not to be seen by the human world. It makes sense. Ordinary people aren’t equipped to handle the prospect of mutant, humanoid turtles walking among them. In the live-action movies, Splinter would mete out punishment whenever the Turtles screwed up and got themselves noticed by innocent bystanders.
But by the climax of the film, the Turtles have abandoned all pretense of trying to stay hidden. When you’re chasing a gigantic killer fly monster through the streets of New York, why bother maintaining stealth? The Turtles wind up winning the hearts and minds of their city, proving that Splinter’s fear of the surface world was slightly overblown.
This all leads to what is easily the biggest change in the entire film. The mid-credits scene shows the Turtles achieving their dream and attending high school alongside April. They even go to prom. They’re now public figures in a city that has seemingly accepted the idea of walking, taking mutants. It should be interesting to see how this plot twist plays out in the upcoming streaming series.
For more on Mutant Mayhem, check out our full breakdown of the movie's ending and learn why the biggest TMNT villain was hiding in plain sight.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
