Nickelodeon Releases New Character Looks For ‘Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’

Nickelodeon announced a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series last year. Now the network has released images, offering fans a look at the famous heroes in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. As far as my opinion goes, I love the unique character designs!

It was obvious from the previous announcement the upcoming show was going to be very different from what fans are used to. Along with introducing an African-American April O’Neil, the four turtles were getting a makeover too. So, of course I was excited to see what Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had in store, and it turns out the new images delivered!

One of the best things I like about the new character designs is the differences between the turtles. Raphael is a snapping turtle, now equipped with twin tonfas instead of his sais. Leonardo is modeled after a red-eared slider, equipped with an ōdachi sword. Michelangelo, the youngest, is a box turtle with a kusari-fundo (we might get to see some themed yoyos once the toys appear). Donatello (my favorite) is a soft-shell turtle wielding a tech bo staff and a master coder.

With the turtles being visually different, I’m looking forward to the action figures and playsets they’ll inspire.

And yes, April O’Neil will be a WOC in the upcoming 2D-animated show. As for people yelling about the series only including such a change to be politically correct and please a minority, go take a seat. April was supposed to be a WOC but ended up being whitewashed. So, it’s about time such a correction was made.

The Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be tapping into mystic ninja powers and hidden realms. Raphael will serve as leader. The show will (currently) air for a total of 26 episodes. The series has been co-executive produced by Andy Suriano (character designer, Samurai Jack) and Ant Ward (supervising producer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) at Nickelodeon in Burbank, Calif.

The voice cast includes Omar Miller as Raphael, Ben Schwartz as Leonardo, Josh Brener as Donatello, and Brandon Mychal Smith as Michelangelo. Kat Graham, from The Vampire Diaries, will voice April O’Neil. Furthermore, Eric Bauza will voice Splinter. John Cena will be voicing Daron Draxum “an alchemist warrior mutant who seeks to turn all of humanity into mutants.”

The Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is scheduled to debut later this year. Feel free to share your thoughts with us.

(Images courtesy of Nickelodeon)

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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