Every Main Mutant In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem, Ranked
This article contains spoilers for "TMNT: Mutant Mayhem."
In a jampacked summer movie season bursting with reboots, sequels, and Barbenheimer, a new spin on the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" arrives to shake things up and remind audiences why this gloriously bonkers premise continues to stand the test of time. With seemingly endless iterations of everyone's favorite pizza-loving green quartet, it may seem like another studio attempting to exploit fan nostalgia with a well-known IP to sell movie tickets and toys. While they absolutely will sell a boatload of toys and ride a bodacious wave at the box office, this reboot is anything but a cash grab. Producer Seth Rogen and company have crafted a genuinely entertaining ride that combines what fans love about these characters, with an oozy overload of fun new twists.
We know you're wondering — with a title like "Mutant Mayhem," does it live up to its promise? Heck yes, it does. There is a veritable menagerie of mutated animals, each with unique personalities and fighting skills. With several characters voiced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's recurring Rolodex of comedians, it feels like a bunch of friends who love this property and are having a blast making it their own. The character redesigns are totally tubular, and their origins are streamlined in a way that allows the movie to feel balanced and not like an overstuffed rehash. So where do all these mayhem-causing mutants stack up? Let's nunchuck our way through this list and find out — cowabunga!
10. Wingnut
Wingnut (Natasia Demetriou) was initially conceived as a hybrid spoof of Man-Bat and Batman. Like most comic book/cartoon characters in the Turtle-verse, he has been a friend and a foe to the Turtles. Introduced in the comics as a mutant/alien bat and the last of his kind from Dimension X, he traveled to Manhattan with his partner Screwloose (a mutant/alien mosquito) in search of Krang to seek revenge for the destruction of their planet.
In the 1987 cartoon, Wingnut and Screwloose have a slightly more nutty backstory. Invaders from another world who want to turn Earth's children into mindless followers — perhaps a metaphor for TV warping our minds, maybe? In "Mutant Mayhem," the destruction of Baxter Stockman's (Giancarlo Esposito) lab releases Wingnut and her companions into the sewers.
Natasia Demetriou brings the same joyful, gleefully sadistic energy as her character, Nadja, on "What We Do In the Shadows." If you haven't watched that show yet, do it immediately (okay, read the rest of this article first). Is she getting typecast — a vampire, and now a mutated bat? We don't mind because she's always fang-tastic (dad joke alert). While her presence onscreen is brief, the wacky character design and her role in the final Kaiju battle give her plenty of moments to shine. If we had one gripe, some of Wingnut's lines are delivered so fast, during wildly chaotic moments, that they get a bit lost. This is a minor nitpick for a character we're happy to see finally make their big-screen debut.
9. Leatherhead
In Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's original comics, Leatherhead was a wee baby alligator wandering the sewers after a pet store robbery when he was scooped up by the nefarious TCRI (Techno Cosmic Research Institute) and transformed into the "TMNT" version of Batman's Killer Croc. In the cartoon, his origin takes a more eco-disaster turn — he was a perfectly normal alligator until he swam through a mutagen-riddled swamp. He became a villainous hunter, always looking for new evil teammates to take down the turtles. Leatherhead also spoke with a distinctly Cajun accent, being from the bayou. In this retcon of the toothy terror, Rose Byrne takes on the role and puts another shrimp on the barbie by giving Leatherhead a more jovial Australian twist.
We're pretty sure Seth Rogen has it written into his contract that Rose Byrne appears in every project he works on. Luckily, she's hilarious, so no complaints about the repeat casting here. However, the appeal of Leatherhead has always been that he's a particularly fearsome foe to the Turtles. In "Mutant Mayhem," the character dishes out a few laughs at the sacrifice of any menace. Couple that with minimal screen time and Leatherhead feels more like a fun Easter egg than a fully fleshed-out character. We're happy the filmmakers chucked a ton of mutants onto the screen, but let's hope Leatherhead gets to be a bit meaner in future installments.
8. Genghis Frog
Genghis Frog first appeared in the original cartoon along with his gang, ironically called The Punk Frogs. It's ironic because there's nothing about Hawaiian shirts and beach shorts that screams "punk rock." However, they do carry medieval weapons of death, so that's pretty punk, right? Victims of a mutagen spill that turned them into human-sized mutant frogs, Shredder discovered them and trained these four young frogs to be fighting masters, basically his attempt at creating evil Ninja Turtles. Unfortunately for Shredder, he's the only punk in this scenario. The frogs quickly join forces with the Turtles, and chrome dome's plan backfires. In the comics, they were once humans until a mutagen bomb exploded and mutated an entire town. Only Genghis appears in "Mutant Mayhem," and he's far more cuddly looking, even if his attitude is a bit grumpy.
In his stand-up and comedic roles, Hannibal Buress has mastered the art of deadpan delivery and improvisational skills. His portrayal of Genghis Frog here is no different. Don't let his adorable look fool you; he's grumpier than the famous Clint Eastwood grimacing meme. He carries an ax on a chain, and even though he may catch his eyeball by accident while snacking on flies, this reptilian badass means business. Once Genghis Frog sees the error of his upbringing, he offers tongue-slinging help to the Turtles in the final battle with Super Duper Fly. All in all, Genghis Frog makes a triumphant, if brief, feature film debut.
7. Ray Fillet
Like most of the mutants on this list, Ray Fillet has a storied past. In his first appearance during the Archie Comics run, he was a marine biologist named Jack Finney who stumbled upon some toxic goo dumped by, you guessed it, Shredder. Who knew Shredder was such an eco-terrorist? Now a mutated half-human, half-man ray, Jack Finney dawns his new identity, Ray Fillet, and teams up with the Turtles, eventually forming his own team, the Mighty Mutanimals. For the 1987 cartoon, an unofficial version of Ray Fillet, going only by Ray, was introduced as a monster-of-the-week villain. In "Mutant Mayhem," Ray Fillet (Post Malone) flexes his vocal stylings more than his fighting skills.
Ray Fillet also has limited screen time, but when he's on he shines like a bright mutated oceanic "America's Got Talent" contestant. Introduced dramatically with Superfly's other goons, he falsetto sings his name in response, only to be told emphatically to stop doing that. Several more jokes show Ray leaning towards being more of a singer than a fighter. Like many of his multi-species brothers and sisters, he was raised to fear humans and blindly follows Superfly's villainous plan until the Turtles show him the light. We hope the Mutanimals eventually make their way into the sequels, and maybe Ray could even treat us to a karaoke scene. Come on, Seth Rogen, make it happen!
6. Scumbug
Scumbug debuted in the tenth issue of the 1989 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures" comic series. Initially a human exterminator tricked by Shredder into taking care of his roach problem, he gets exposed to mutagen and transforms into a hideous giant cockroach. He goes mad and wanders the sewers, eventually fighting the Turtles because, in his depraved mind, they look like cockroaches, and he blames them for his new less-than-appealing visage. He appeared shortly thereafter in the animated series with no backstory, and joins forces with other baddies to take down the Turtles. He sports a more human shape, with one arm almost entirely flesh and bone.
The updated Scumbug of "Mutant Mayhem" is gender-swapped and only speaks insect, often spewing gunk in a rage during battles. There's a surprising, albeit incredibly bizarre, romantic twist for good ol' Scumbug, who hits it off with Splinter during the final battle. Somehow, Splinter can understand what she's saying. The movie leaves off with them as a couple and Scumbug the Turtles' new stepmom, as the rat and cockroach share a hilariously gross kiss, proving the age-old adage that there really is someone for everyone.
We're happy that Scumbug and Splinter found each other, even if it brings up more uncomfortable questions than a kid's movie should ever have us ask. Scumbug is hilarious and chaotic, bursting onto the scene with grotesquely fun monstrous energy.
5. Bebop and Rocksteady
It may shock some fans, but Bebop's and Rocksteady's were initially created solely to sell toys. Comic co-creator Peter Laird conceived the duo not for the page, but for the 1987 animated series at the behest of toy company Playmates. Adding these two goofballs was just one of many changes from the dark and gritty comic book roots to the fun and light-hearted cartoon that generations fell in love with. In previous iterations, Bebop and Rocksteady are established as wildly incompetent human thugs hired by Shredder to fight the Turtles. After one too many screw-ups, Shredder mutates them into a giant battle-ready warthog (Bebop) and rhino (Rocksteady) but forgets to add any smarts to the glowing green cocktail.
Bebop and Rocksteady have been fan-favorite villains for decades. As bumbling oafs, they're often a source of giggles for adults and kiddos alike. It's impossible to choose which from this duo of doofuses is the best because they're two peas in a very dense pod. They both have lumbering, unbalanced physiques, sometimes intimidating and often hilarious: juxtapose Rocksteady's sharp gnarly teeth and massive horn with an extremely close shot of Bebop's nipple piercings, and you get the idea.
In "Mutant Mayhem," Seth Rogen voices Bebop alongside John Cena as Rocksteady, and their comedic sensibilities feel tailor-made for these characters. The redesign keeps all the iconic bits fans love (Bebop's pink mohawk, for instance) while adding exaggerated features and visual flair to keep the designs fresh.
4. Superfly
The main (and best) villain in "Mutant Mayhem" is Superfly (Ice Cube), a new character based on the classic "TMNT" villain Baxter Stockman. In the '87 cartoon, Stockman's trip through the portal to Dimension X with a stowaway fly fuses their DNA and transforms him into a human-fly hybrid. In this movie, Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito) is a lonely scientist who just wants a family, so he creates his own with mutagen and several baby animals. But when Cynthia Utrom's (Maya Rudolph) henchmen destroy the lab, Baxter seemingly dies (though not on camera, so this may not be the last we see of him). His mutant animal family grows up in the shadows of Manhattan, led by their new father figure, Superfly.
Superfly is a great villain with an intimidating and creepy design (especially for youngsters). Ice Cube brings the perfect mix of menace, humor, and swagger. Once outside the lab, Superfly learns that humans will never accept his family, so his solution is to wipe out humanity and create a world of mutants. Killing off the human race is objectively wrong, but it comes from Superfly desperately wanting acceptance after a life of loneliness and isolation. In the final battle, Superfly gets a mega dose of ooze and becomes Super Duper Fly, a giant kaiju-style monster with hundreds of helpless animals growing out of him as he wreaks havoc on the city. It's a bonkers and bombastic escalation and a fitting way to unite all the mutants and humans to save the city, ultimately leading to the Turtles coming out of the shadows and living the "normal" life they've always wanted.
3. Mondo Gecko
The comic book version of Mondo Gecko was just your average skateboarding, heavy metal-playing teenager until he was exposed to mutagen while hanging out with his pet lizard. In the 1987 cartoon, however, Mondo is a normal gecko mutated by the ooze and scooped up at a young age by the mysterious and evil Mr. X. Raised to be a petty criminal, he runs into Michelangelo during a robbery, and the party dude convinces him to join the good guys.
The "Mutant Mayhem" incarnation of Mondo (Paul Rudd) is probably the closest to his original roots out of all the mutants on this list. He was a baby gecko, mutated into a fun-loving skater dude, who immediately becomes best buds with Mikey and quickly joins the Turtles to fight Super Fly.
It's no surprise that the most loveable character of the "bad guys" is voiced by one of the most well-loved human beings on the planet. A legendary comedian, nice guy, and Marvel superhero, Rudd disappears into this wacky voice role. Take his "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" surf instructor character, Kunu, and dial it up to 15. He's far less intimidating than his mutant siblings, but he makes up for it with infectious enthusiasm. His back-and-forth improv riff with Mikey on the various uses of "bro" is fantastic. There are too many hilarious exchanges to count, and Mondo will surely be a stand-out favorite for children and their parents alike.
2. Splinter
Splinter is typically depicted as the wise, stoic father figure and sensei to the Turtles. Originally the pet rat of ninja master Hamato Yoshi, he mimicked his master's moves from his cage. When bitter rival Oroku Saki (Shredder) kills Hamato, Splinter escapes, travels to New York, and encounters four turtles playing in that fateful ooze. From there, they become a found family that would make Dominic Toretto proud.
In "Mutant Mayhem," Splinter (Jackie Chan) gets a streamlined backstory as a lonely street rat whose only friend was a cockroach (was being the operative word — a human stepped on him). But then, he finds four baby turtles and a new purpose as their father.
Splinter's worldview parallels Superfly's. Understandably, both teach their families to fear humanity, given their limited negative experience with humans. Unlike Superfly, Splinter eventually sees the error of his ways, and his sons teach him that people have the capacity for good. "Mutant Mayhem" creates a more relatable version of Splinter than his often detached zen demeanor by focusing more on him as a father. He truly loves his boys, and all his strict rules come from wanting to protect them.
There's an empathetic loneliness to this talking rat — he wants to find love too, and he eventually does in the strangest companion. Jackie Chan delights in combining the wisdom of previous incarnations while adding so much humor and heart. An incredible action sequence showcases Splinter's unmatched skill as he unleashes on a gang of Utrom baddies in a fitting homage to Chan's own classic martial arts flicks.
1. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The voice casting and revamping of Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Donatello (Micah Abbey), Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), and Raphael (Brady Noon) justifies the reboot in itself, offering a fresh take while leaving room for the characters to grow. The most significant change in all of "Mutant Mayhem" is that the Turtles finally feel like actual teenagers. Producer Seth Rogen insisted on having the young voice actors record together to capture the sort of genuine teenage energy that had long been missing from the franchise — previous Turtles sound as convincingly "teenage" as the original "Beverly Hills 90210" cast. Before any diehards panic, the Turtles retain their signature traits, with the added treat of watching each discover their true strengths.
Leonardo starts as the punchline of the group, wanting to be the leader, but still needing to learn how to lead. Michelangelo bounces with nervous unfocused energy, his innate humor and optimism peeking out of his shell. Donatello is not a full-on tech genius yet, but he's starting to flex his intellect and he delivers some of the best one-liners. Raphael typically plays the angsty one, but now he's struggling with an overabundance of hilarious teenage rage.
Recording the Turtles' voice cast together makes the energy, awkwardness, and improvised banter feel more authentically youthful. Their simple desire to go to high school and be accepted is a universal truth that audiences of every generation will relate to. Fortunately, with a "Mutant Mayhem" sequel already greenlit and the next villain revealed during the end credits, audiences have many more adventures with the heroes in a half shell on the horizon.