The release of 2023’s animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, rectified the superhero franchise’s seven-year movie hiatus, marking the first film since the 2016 movie in Michael Bay’s failed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie series. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of the biggest IPs in the superhero genre, earning itself a historic reputation since it was first released as a parody comic in 1984. However, there has been a distinct lack of TMNT movie adaptations in recent years, with the franchise seemingly focusing on producing TV shows instead.

Mutant Mayhem follows the turtles as they hunt down and face off against the crime boss Superfly and his mutant gang. The movie proved immensely popular, with many praising its animation style, and was nominated for multiple awards. In fact, the success of the film has led to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2 being confirmed to be in development, with a release date set for 2026. Yet, although another Mutant Mayhem movie sounds great, it’s not the most exciting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie coming up, as there’s an interesting live-action TMNT film in development.

A Live-Action TMNT: The Last Ronin Movie Is In The Works

The Last Ronin Live-Action Movie Will Be Geared Towards Adults

According to Variety, a new R-rated live-action movie is in the works, and it will be based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin comic by Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz. The five-issue miniseries was released in 2020 and ran until 2022 under IDW Publishing, although it is not part of IDW’s continuity and is set in its own universe called the “Roninverse.” The Last Ronin comic series follows a gritty story of the last remaining turtle alive in an alternate dystopian future as he seeks to avenge his brothers’ deaths by killing the grandson of the Shredder.

The Last Ronin joins a bunch of exciting upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles projects that will be released over the next few years, including the aforementioned Mutant Mayhem 2 and a TV series called Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which will expand the universe set up in Mutant Mayhem. However, The Last Ronin movie is markedly different from the other upcoming TMNT projects because it will be live-action and specifically geared toward an adult audience instead of the franchise’s usually universal target range. Interestingly, The Last Ronin comic is also being prepped for a video game adaptation.

Why The Last Ronin Is The Perfect Story For A New Live-Action TMNT Movie

The Last Ronin Is An Extremely Popular Comic Series

The Last Ronin comic series is the perfect story to adapt into a live-action TMNT movie because it offers something different from the franchise. While previous TMNT comics have had their dark moments, The Last Ronin stands out as a bloody and intense graphic novel series unlike any other, and its emotional elements and characterization are perfect for such an adaptation. The Last Ronin‘s dark and mature story makes it the opposite of Michael Bay’s TMNT movies. The comic has gained immense popularity, ranking second on Circana BookScan’s list of top-selling graphic novels in 2023 (via ICv2).

Due to the success of the miniseries, TMNT: The Last Ronin‘s writers expanded the Roninverse with a prequel and a sequel series, as well as a video game adaptation. The expanding comic universe of The Last Ronin provides ample opportunity for the new live-action movie to venture into its own franchise, producing a series of movies that follow the comics. Furthermore, as a relatively recent hit, it makes sense that Paramount would want to jump at the opportunity to make The Last Ronin now, while the hype is still fresh, especially in the wake of Mutant Mayhem‘s success.

Mutant Mayhem Was Great, But TMNT Needs To Revive The Live-Action Franchise, To

TMNT Hasn’t Seen Live-Action Movies Since Michael Bay

While 2023’s animated movie Mutant Mayhem is a brilliant example of demonstrating that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles name is just as popular as ever, it would be great if the superhero series worked on reviving its live-action franchise too. Rather shockingly, Mutant Mayhem scored a higher Rotten Tomatoes rating than both Barbie and Oppenheimer. To stand up against the prolific repertoires of Barbie’s IP and Christopher Nolan shows that Mutant Mayhem is arguably one of the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles projects to date, and its success is well-earned.

On the other hand, The Last Ronin is riskier and more intriguing than a Mutant Mayhem sequel, as the franchise hasn’t seen any live-action projects since the Michael Bay movies in 2014 and 2016. There are plenty of animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV shows and movies because they are easier to produce, as it can be difficult to realistically pull off live-action without the turtles looking too silly. However, the Bay movies did a fairly good job on this, which gives us hope for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin live-action adaptation.

Sources: Variety, ICv2