RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT TURTLES Pics Reveal Very Different Incarnations Of The Heroes In A Half-Shell

Nickelodeon has unveiled the first official promo images for the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, and fans of the classic interpretations of the characters may have a few things to say!..

By MarkCassidy - Feb 01, 2018 07:02 AM EST
EW has debuted our first official look at Nickelodeon's upcoming Rise of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, along with a shot of the actors who'll be voicing the Heroes in a Half-Shell and their allies.

Though Leo, Don, Mikey and Raph don't look drastically different to previous incarnations, there are a few alternations that are sure to annoy TMNT purists. For instance, the four team members are all different breeds of turtles now, which obviously suggests that they're no longer being depicted as brothers.

Have a look at the images below, and be sure to let us know what you think of this new take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the usual place.

To view all of the images at once, simply click on the VIEW LIST (ONE PAGE) button below.
 

The Cast


 
We already know that John Cena will play the villainous Baron Draxum, and he'll be joined by Kat Graham (The Vampire Diaries) as April O’Neil; Josh Brener (Silicon Valley) as Donatello; Omar Miller (Ballers) as Raphael; Brandon Mychal Smith (You’re The Worst) as Michelangelo; and Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) as Leonardo. In addition, Eric Bauza plays Splinter.

 

April O'Neil


 
TMNT mainstay April O'Neil will also be getting a makeover for the show. The first ever African American take on the character is described as "a savvy New Yorker and first human ally of the turtles."
 

Donatello


The team's tech-wizard Donatello will be reintroduced as a Soft-shell turtle who "rocks a tech-bo staff and impressive coding skills."

 

Leonardo


.
Leonardo leads? Not any more! This new version of the blue bandanna-wearing hero is a red-eared slider who boasts "irreverent charm and a rebel heart." His signature katanas have also been replaced with an ōdachi sword.

 

Michelangelo



Party dude Michelangelo is a box turtle who appears to have retained his happy-go-lucky personality, at least. Mikey will now sport a kusari-fundo instead of the similar enough nun-chucks.
 

Raphael



Raph is now the leader of the four, and has been re-imagined as a snapping turtle. His signature sai blades have been replaced by tonfas.

 

Splinter



And finally, we have Master Splinter. This take on the Turtles' wise old sensai seems to be a lot uglier and angrier than we remember.

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CaptainElrond
CaptainElrond - 2/1/2018, 7:45 AM
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 2/1/2018, 7:47 AM
Ew.
PilotJohnGrant
PilotJohnGrant - 2/1/2018, 7:49 AM
Apart from Splinter, I kinda like this.
MattMurdock22
MattMurdock22 - 2/1/2018, 7:49 AM
Okay I don’t care too much about the turtles, I didn’t grow up on them or anything, but what in the fresh hell are those?
BackwardGalaxy
BackwardGalaxy - 2/1/2018, 8:55 AM
@MattMurdock22 - I did grow up on them, but can't say I've cared about them for a while. I had the same reaction. What in the fresh hell are those?
TheRaven20
TheRaven20 - 2/1/2018, 7:51 AM
It shouldn't be too hard to reimagine the turtles in a unique way, while still retaining classic elements... but instead they decide to toss everything out the window and make the most absurd and unnecessary changes.

Nothing abut this looks or sounds good except for the voice cast.
konoyaro
konoyaro - 2/1/2018, 7:52 AM
horrible
corin
corin - 2/1/2018, 7:52 AM
This looks like crap. Ben Schwartz is terrible. Why cancel a great turtles cartoon for this crap.
ZinkyZombie
ZinkyZombie - 2/1/2018, 7:52 AM
[frick]ing horrible.....
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 2/1/2018, 7:53 AM
I really liked the last series. Should have just continued that.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 2/1/2018, 9:50 AM
@RorMachine - I agree.

As someone who has been following TMNT since the original comics its easy to see that everytime a new comic series, tv show, or movie releases they make drastic changes from the source material. So this shouldn't be a surprise.

Having said that, the original comics will always be my favorite, followed by the previous show on Nick. It was very well done.

I'm okay with most of the changes. I even enjoyed the newer movies for what they were.

But this? This is an embarrassment. This just looks terrible on all levels. I'm not even mad about changes being made. These changes are just awful though.
pesmerga44
pesmerga44 - 2/1/2018, 7:59 AM
@Kucakingkai1991 - Really they can do whatever they want because every iteration of the Turtles are from their own alternate reality. This is all completely canon in the franchise. In both the 2003 and 2012 series those Turtles have crossed to the original 80's reality and the 2003 series went to the "Prime" Turtle reality which was the original black and white comic book.
VicSage
VicSage - 2/1/2018, 7:54 AM
Holy fack.
pesmerga44
pesmerga44 - 2/1/2018, 7:56 AM
What have they done to Splinter? Somebody kill it with fire!
Invictor
Invictor - 2/1/2018, 7:58 AM
This looks terrible.
NightmareB4
NightmareB4 - 2/1/2018, 7:58 AM
Kill it with fire
pesmerga44
pesmerga44 - 2/1/2018, 8:02 AM
@NightmareB4 -
BobGarlen
BobGarlen - 2/1/2018, 7:59 AM
This looks like something cartoon network would object too
megabatfan
megabatfan - 2/1/2018, 8:03 AM
Somebody post that Darth Vader meme or gif... because NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
NinnesMBC
NinnesMBC - 2/1/2018, 8:05 AM
Whatever happened to the 3D series that aired on Nickelodeon? That one seemed to be good.

My fave still remains the 2003 version.
pesmerga44
pesmerga44 - 2/1/2018, 8:09 AM
@NinnesMBC - Ya the 2003 series was the best... then everything changed when they went into the future.
NinnesMBC
NinnesMBC - 2/1/2018, 8:13 AM
@pesmerga44 - Agreed, it wasn't handled as well as the precedeccesor.
DetBullock
DetBullock - 2/1/2018, 9:00 AM
@pesmerga44 - I couldn't even finish the "future" season and the one that followed, in the end I was content with the unaired fifth season and the crossover movie.
pesmerga44
pesmerga44 - 2/1/2018, 9:07 AM
@DetBullock - Ya the 5th season was pretty good with all the mystical arts, cool new characters, new weapons. The future stuff and then the cyberworld stuff was all pretty garbage.
MarDCel
MarDCel - 2/1/2018, 8:05 AM
Ew ew ew
RexBlazer1
RexBlazer1 - 2/1/2018, 8:05 AM
To be fair, in the original comics, April was implied to be black, as they gave her a darker skin tone. It was later versions that had her be white and possibly of Irish descent.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 2/1/2018, 8:08 AM
@RexBlazer1 - I don't think anyone (well, I'm being generous..obviously SOME people will) really minds that, it's the changes to the Turtles and Splinter that are hard to deal with.
Konelpez
Konelpez - 2/1/2018, 11:14 AM
@RexBlazer1 - could care less if she’s black.......why the hell is she a green lanter........
RexBlazer1
RexBlazer1 - 2/1/2018, 12:16 PM
@RorMachine - Yeah, the changes are a bit on the drastic side. Although, I'm not going to be one of those people who are like "They changed it, now it sucks!" I'm pretty sure a lot of folks are getting tired of that, but I can't say that I don't sympathize with those who are off-put by the changes.
RexBlazer1
RexBlazer1 - 2/1/2018, 12:17 PM
@Konelpez - I don't know what the hell it is, but I'm guessing it's some mystical mumbo-jumbo that we don't know about.
ODanil
ODanil - 2/1/2018, 8:05 AM
you CANNOT change Raph's weapon;
MetalPug
MetalPug - 2/1/2018, 10:41 PM
@ODanil - holy crap I overlooked that bit.. I was too shocked by how horrible they looked to notice they changed his weapon. Everything about this is so wrong... I’d say they changed his weapons for some sort of stupid “not good for kids” reason, but that prediction is thrown out the window since Leo still has his katanas.. What have they done to you, my turtle friends?!.... wtf
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