Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem looks totally cowabunga, dude

The first trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem has landed online – and it looks totally rad, dude.

Set for release in theaters this August, and one of our eagerly anticipated new movies for 2023, the turtles’ latest cinematic adventure looks to be a far cry from Michael Bay’s gritty, grounded duology in the iconic franchise.

Yes, it’s another CGI-style film, but Mutant Mayhem appears to have everything that makes for a brilliang tubular turtle power-based film: gorgeous visuals, plenty of humor, and crowd-pleasing action. Oh, and pizza – lots and lots of pizza.

Take a look at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem‘s first teaser below:

I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I can’t get over how visually innovative Mutant Mayhem looks. It’s positioned as a CGI movie, but there are clear nods to the ground-breaking visuals seen in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its upcoming sequel Across the Spider-Verse. It also appears to have been inspired by claymation-based projects, such as Wallace & Gromit and The Nightmare Before Christmas; and I wouldn’t be surprised if Mutant Mayhem has taken some cues from The Mitchells Vs. The Machines, too, one of the best Netflix movies, which is equally pioneering in its aesthetic.

In a press release, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies – the studios behind the turtles’ latest revival – provided a brief synopsis of what to expect from the animated flick.

“After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts,” the synopsis reads. “Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.”

Of course, no animated flick is complete without its voice cast – and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem has one of the best we’ve seen in a while.

The Mandalorian star Giancarlo Esposito, The Suicide Squad‘s John Cena, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s Paul Rudd, and Kung fu legend Jackie Chan are just four of the big names attached to this movie. For a full rundown of who’s playing who, check out the below list:

• Nicolas Cantu (The Fabelmans) as Leonardo
• Micah Abbey (Cousins for Life) as Donatello
• Brady Noon (The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers) as Raphael
• Shamen Brown Jr (The Chi) as Michelangelo
• Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) as April O’Neil 
• Jackie Chan (Rush Hour) as Splinter 
• John Cena (The Suicide Squad) as Rocksteady  
• Seth Rogen (Invincible) as Bebop  
• Giancarlo Esposito (The Mandalorian) as Baxter Stockman
• Rose Byrne (X-Men: First Class) as Leatherhead 
• Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) as Mondo Gecko 
• Maya Rudolph (The Mitchells Vs. The Machines) as Cynthia Utrom
• Hannibal Buress (Broad City) as Genghis Frog 
• Natasia Demetriou (What We Do In The Shadows) as Wingnut  
• Ice Cube as Superfly  
• Post Malone as Ray Fillet

Building on Mutant Mayhem‘s links to The Mitchells Vs. The Machines, the latter’s writer Jeff Lowe, who also worked on fan-favorite TV series Gravity Falls, is in the hot seat for the turtles’ latest big-screen team-up. Storyboard artist Kyler Spears (Minions: The Rise of Gru) is on co-directorial duties, with Neighbors alumnus Brendan O’Brien writing the screenplay.

Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and James Weaver produced the movie via their Point Grey Pictures company, which also produced Pam & Tommy for Hulu, plus The Boys and Invincible TV adaptations for Prime Video.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is due to slice its way into theaters on August 4. Make sure to travel by skateboard, and bring some pizza along for the ride.

For more Paramount coverage, read our review of Top Gun: Maverick, which is up for six Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. Alternatively, read about the best Paramount Plus movies and best Paramount Plus shows.