In the last four decades, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have had six movies. But the upcoming seventh film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, is the first movie to actually portray the TMNT as teenagers. Of course, this is a reboot, so forget everything you saw in the previous movies. In their latest incarnation, Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Donatello (Micah Abbey), Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), and Raphael (Brady Noon) may have been raised by Master Splinter (Jackie Chan), but they’re clearly obsessed with social media. It’s all they know about being kids, and it’s no longer enough for them to hide in the sewers.
As seen in the trailer above, the TMNT believe that they will be accepted by humans and live out their high school fantasies if they can prove that they are genuine heroes. Their first human friend, April O’Neil (The Bear‘s Ayo Edebiri), seems willing to give them a chance. But winning over the rest of humanity may be a challenge because the city is being overrun by evil mutants.
In a change from tradition, the Turtles’ new villain isn’t Shredder. It’s Superfly, as voiced by Ice Cube. Superfly is apparently the boss of the evil mutants, which includes some familiar faces, including Bebop (Seth Rogen) and Rocksteady (Fast X‘s John Cena). Ironically, the Turtles may have more in common with this gang than they do with ordinary people. And that could lead to some conflicted feelings.
Hannibal Buress also stars in the film as the voice of Genghis Frog, with Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Post Malone as Ray Fillet, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko, and Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom.
Jeff Rowe directed the film and co-wrote the script with Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem will hit theaters on Friday, August 2.