Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Villain Spin-Off Movies Coming To Paramount+
Back in summer 2020, fans of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" were surprised to learn that the heroes in a half shell would be getting yet another reboot. However, instead of another live-action film with motion capture performers (or better yet, the terrifying rubber suits), the latest installment would be computer-animated under the guidance of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's Point Grey Pictures. The duo is primarily known for writing comedies such as "Superbad," "Pineapple Express," and "This Is The End," but more recently, they've been producing a number of excellent comic book adaptations like "The Boys," "Preacher," and "Invincible." So for them to tackle the beloved franchise created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird for Mirage Comics (but now published by IDW) makes a lot of sense.
However, this new movie (that is said to focus more on the teen side of the Ninja Turtles) isn't the only "TMNT" project in the pipeline at Paramount. It looks like the streamer is preparing to make room for more anthropomorphic animals with martial arts skills and various other styles of fighting.
While sharing a number of upcoming films and TV shows like a new "Star Trek" movie featuring the Kelvin timeline cast, a sequel to "A Quiet Place," and a second season of "Halo," the Paramount+ Twitter account announced that "a series of villain-driven TMNT films" are on the schedule following the release of Rogen and Goldberg's film next year. They didn't have any additional information about these new additions to the Turtle mythology, but there's quite an extensive rogues gallery to dive into there.
Gnarly foes
Fans of the comic and the classic 1987 cartoon will remember the many foes that faced off against Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo, and there were even more with the four animated series and various movies after that. And we're not just talking about Shredder, Krang, Bebop, Rocksteady, and the Foot Clan, either. Been there done that. There are so many radical bad guys for the team to take one beyond the usual suspects.
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For instance, the Punk Frogs. When Shredder unleashed mutagen on their swamp, he convinced them that he was a hero and the turtles were evil. They believed him and trained to take the turtles down. The best part? The frogs' names: Atilla the Frog, Genghis Frog, Napoleon Bonafrog, and Rasputin the Mad Frog. Eventually, they found out that Shredder was actually the villain and sided with the turtles, but just imagine the "Captain America: Civil War"-level fighting we could see if this comes to fruition.
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Baxter Stockman seems like a no-brainer for one of these movies. He's been a regular antagonist for the turtles over the years throughout various forms of media. Though he has differed slightly in each appearance, the gist is that he's a mad scientist with a specialty in robotics. He invented the MOUSERS for the Foot Clan and has provided many weapons for Krang, Shredder, and other villains. At one point, he became one with his passion for robots when he turned himself into a cyborg in order to defeat the turtles once and for all. Also, in most iterations of the character, he is a giant fly.
Armaggon would also make an excellent subject for one of these movies. He's a mutant shark from the future that is sometimes depicted as a bounty hunter and space assassin. For all the mutant shark movies we have out there, there's no reason why Armaggon shouldn't get the greenlight. They could call it "Ermahgerd Armaggon" and it would be wildly popular on the internet. I guarantee it.
They can't go wrong
Honestly, Rogen and Goldberg could open a toy box filled with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" action figures from Playmates and pull out a random toy that both looks cool and has a bit of a backstory like this to build off of. But my pitch? Make a movie about Keno the pizza boy from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze." Played by "Surf Ninjas" star Ernie Reyes Jr., Keno was originally a friend of the turtles, but when they made fun of him for taking a night security job, he fought back until he realized that he was outnumbered. They eventually made up because Keno helped them fight Shredder, Tokka, Rahzar, and the Foot Soldiers, but he hasn't been seen in any movie, show, or comic since then.
Since the turtles have been terrible friends after everything Keno did to help them, he could turn to the dark side and plot various pizza-related ways to eliminate them. Also, you could bring back Ernie Reyes Jr. to voice him because he deserves it. Justice for Keno!
See? Endless possibilities. Anyway, while you speculate on the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" villains that you'd like to see in their own movies, don't forget to get excited for Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's new take on the franchise, which premieres (likely on Paramount +) on August 11, 2023.