Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Has a My Hero Academia Reference

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem takes the opportunity to introduce a new generation to the Heroes in a Half-Shell. Taking a younger route thanks to creators Jeff Rowe, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michaelangelo have already shown that their world is populated with some familiar anime series. With Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen making appearances in promotional material for the film, the world of UA Academy also has an unexpected role to play in the new movie from Paramount Animation.

Warning. If you have yet to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem in theaters, be forewarned that we'll be diving into some serious spoiler territory for the film. In the movie's runtime, we learn that Donatello isn't just the brains of the team, but also is a giant anime fan. In fact, Donatello's love of anime plays an essential part in the movie as the Turtle brothers are able to use his love of Attack on Titan to create a strategy in fighting against the larger-than-life villain, Super Fly. Unexpectedly, Deku himself is able to make an appearance in a surprising way.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Deku

One of the biggest dreams that the Turtles have in the film is to become regular teenagers, hoping to attend high school like any of the humans roaming the surface world. While they do get the opportunity to attend school at the end of the film, an earlier scene sees the Turtles finding a bulletin board with an "Anime Club" picture that features none other than Deku from My Hero Academia. 

Before Mutant Mayhem even hit theaters, Paramount confirmed that this new take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will make a comeback not just in a sequel, but also in a new animated series that is on the way. Considering how the movie ends with the new status quo, there will be serious territory to explore and potentially, room to drop even more anime references in the future. 

What did you think of Deku making an appearance in Mutant Mayhem? What was your favorite anime reference in the movie featuring the Heroes in a Half-Shell? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is now in theaters.