TMNT: Mutant Mayhem director on why his beloved psychedelic avocado scene got cut
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem has only started preview screenings, but it’s already on track to be August’s biggest theater hit — and that isn’t lost on parent company Paramount Pictures. This week, the studio greenlit not just a sequel film, but also a two-season animated Paramount Plus series, Tales of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, that will reportedly serve as a “bridge” between the two flicks.
What can we expect to see in that movie and show? According to the movie’s own credits scene, a quintessential TMNT villain. And according to our chat with director Jeff Rowe… avocados.
[Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.]
Technically it’s just a mid-credits sequence. But it’s a biggie.
If you caught TMNT: MM early, then you already know the movie ends with Mikey, Don, Leo, and Raph achieving every isolated teen’s dream: enrolling in high school. OK, well, it’s their dream, anyway: to find a way to exist in the human world without people being scared of them. But then...
First we’re treated to more turtle high school hijinks at a school dance. But then we get a big hint at their future outside of the classroom — with a shot of the unmistakable form of Shredder, warlord of the nefarious Foot Clan.
Was there ever a version of Mutant Mayhem where Shredder was the main villain, rather than Superfly (played by Ice Cube)? When Polygon chatted with Jeff Rowe in June, he said, “Absolutely. That was our first impulse.” But ultimately, the necessity of giving this new take on the Turtles its proper introduction outweighed giving Shredder his due. Rowe and his crew opted to tease Shredder at the end of their movie and hope for a sequel — one Paramount now intends to
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