Seth Rogen Says ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” Attempts To “Honor Everything” About The Franchise While Also “Trying To Infuse Something New And Exciting Into It”

Spencer Baculi |

Apr 11, 2023

Seth Rogen talks to Collider about his role as Donkey Kong in 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' / Donatello (Micah Abbey) screams in pain after being stabbed by a sai in the first trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023), Paramount Pictures

According to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem producer Seth Rogen, his animated film will attempt to “honor everything [he] always loved” about New York’s resident radical reptiles whilst simulatneously making sure to “infuse something new and exciting” into their mythos.

The actor-slash-anti-white activist spoke to his approach towards the Turtles’ silver screen return during a recent interview with ScreenRant.

Though primarily speaking with the outlet of his then-upcoming role as Donkey Kong in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Rogen was eventually asked if he could provide any insight into the creative process behind Mutant Mayhem, to which he asserted, “I think it’s putting a lot of thought into making a better version of it, even than people are projecting it’s going to be and at the same time giving them everything that they hope it’s going to have.”

“And I think that’s something that, honestly, we’ve gotten better at over the years,” said the producer, “and I’ve seen a lot of friends do it, and I’ve been a part of it a few times. I think maybe early on our instincts maybe were like, ‘Let’s subvert it; let’s make it really different.’ And I think you do have to create something that’s original, exciting, and creatively unique, but at the same time, it has to give people what they’re really hoping they get from this stuff.”

“With Ninja Turtles, it was really trying to honor everything I always loved about it [while] trying to infuse something new and exciting into it,” he concluded. “And luckily for us, no one had ever used actual teenagers before, and something very intuitive became something that really opened up our version; it feels like it makes it feel very unique. Things like that, I think, are exciting ways to get into this stuff.”

The eponymous team of heroes discusses their preference for the term 'ooze' over 'goo' in the first trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023), Paramount Pictures

However, despite Rogen’s attempt to reassure longtime TMNT fans that his film will ‘give people what they’re really hoping they get’, the film’s initial reveal has already raised suspicions that this will be far from case – particularly for any fan still holding out hope that they may one day see a revival of April O’Neil’s classic yellow jumpsuit appearance.

Therein, not only was it announced that villains Wingnut and Leatherhead would both apparently be gender-swapped thanks to their being voiced by Natasha Demetriou and Rose Byrne respectively, but also that the film would feature yet another race-swapped incarnation of the aforementioned O’Neil.

April O'Neil (Ayo Edebiri) attempts to make sense of her new friends' biology in the first trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023), Paramount Pictures

At current, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is set to spin its way into theaters on August 4th, 2023.

NEXT: After YouTuber Casey Neistat Falls Victim To Car Break-In, Seth Rogen Dismisses Concerns Over LA Crime: “I’ve Never Really Felt Violated Any Of The 15 Or So Times My Car Was Broken Into”