Seth Rogen’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” Delivers a Delightful First Trailer

March 7, 2023

When Seth Rogen revealed the star-studded cast helping bring the heroes in a half shell back to the big screen, even those not intimately connected to the 1980s cartoon (or the previous film adaptations thereafter, or the new, more recent animated series) had to pause. Rogen revealed that along with the central cast, all appropriately voiced by teens, the supporting stars included Rose Byrne, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, John Cena, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, Hannibal Buress, and more. All this star power for a movie about teenage turtles with mutant superpowers mucking it up in New York City? Yup.

Then Paramount Pictures dropped this delicious first trailer, and even for the uninitiated, perhaps, the excitement makes more sense. The film was conjured into life by “permanent teenager” Seth Rogen, as the opening credits reveal, and the animation has a texture and playfulness to it that would be impossible to recreate in a live-action version. Mutant Mayhem will tell a brand new story about the Turtle Brothers emerging from the sewers of the Big Apple to fight crime and have a blast doing it while explaining to the world just how they came to be (baby turtles meet “mystery goo” and voila—they’re buff superhero turtles extremely capable with throwing stars). The Turtle Brothers act precisely like normal teenagers act, only, you know, with shockingly awesome ninja skills and, again, they’re talking turtles. The trailer begins with our heroes filming each other doing ninja stuff on their phones with the goofy, giddy energy that is sacrosanct to teen life.

Mutant Mayhem is the second CG animated Turtles movie (2007’s TMNT was the first), but it looks better than any we’ve seen before, and it’s the first outing for our half-shelled heroes since Michael Bay’s 2016 live-action film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. This new film was originally supposed to be the third installment in Bay’s live-action TMNT trilogy, but then Seth Rogen picked it up in 2018, and the rest is turtle history. The new film is, thankfully, a fully CG-animated romp. Jeff Rowe and Kyle Spears direct from a script by Brendan O’Brien, and the trio seem to have captured the spirit of the original cartoon, the lunacy of the central conceit, and the love that flows between these mutant turtles.

The film’s four Turtle Brothers are played by Micah Abbey (Donatello), Nicolas Cantu (Leonardo), Shamon Brown Jr. (Michaelangelo), and Brady Noon (Raphael). The turtle’s mentor Splinter is voiced by Jackie Chan. Rogen stars as the villain Bebop, while John Cena plays Rocksteady, Bebop’s best bud. Paul Rudd plays Mondo Gecko, Rose Bryne is Leatherhead, Maya Rudolph voices Cynthia Utrom, Ice Cube is Superfly, Ayo Edebiri is April O’Neil, Hannibal Buress plays Genghis Frog, Giancarlo Esposito is Baxter Stockman, Natasia Demetriou is Wingnut, and Post Malone is Ray Fillet.

Check out the trailer below. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem hits theaters on August 4.