The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has rarely been as expansive or varied as it is in 2026, especially in the world of comics. While the main TMNT series continues to evolve in new and exciting ways, there’s also a host of other adventures happening elsewhere in the universe. ComicBook had the chance to speak to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Editor Jake Thomas all about what’s happening in every corner of the franchise, and Thomas was kind enough to tease events and developments for The Last Ronin, TMNT x Godzilla, solo series like Shredder and Casey Jones (and maybe even April O’Neal), Battle Nexus, and more.
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First up is the world of The Last Ronin, which delivered a successful sequel in The Last Ronin II Re-Evolution. The series continued the compelling story from the original series while also introducing a new group of heroic turtles, and when asked what he was most proud of regarding the series and what might be happening down the line, Thomas said, “I read The Last Ronin as a fan, and I was totally blown away. At the beginning of my comics career I spent 11 years at Marvel, I’ve read and worked on plenty of ‘Old Man ‘/’’s Last Ride’ kinds of stories, and honestly, I thought the juice had been pretty well squeezed out of that concept, but TLR was just such a shot across the bow. The intensity, the high-stakes drama, the art, the world, it just all felt so vibrant and new and bracing, I couldn’t believe how well they’d done it. They really put together something incredible, it’s a truly exceptional work, and I am excited to say that there will be a Last Ronin-verse announcement early this year, so get ready, there’s more great stuff coming!”
TMNT’s Solo Series Are Moving Full Speed Ahead (And More Could Be Happening Soon)
Moving to the Turtles solo series roster, both Shredder and Casey Jones are along nicely in their own individual stories. We asked what Thomas felt each series brought out of their respective characters, and for Shredder, it’s a return to a more threatening and villainous nature.
“Well, let’s start with Shredder. One of the things that can happen when a series has gone on for a while is the villains can begin getting a little comfortable, the edges can get a little sanded off. Inevitably, you’re going to do a story or two where the heroes and villains have to team up against an even larger threat, and they’re going to grow an understanding, and then your villain suddenly isn’t such a bad, scary guy anymore,” Thomas said. “We realized we’d told some really great stories like ‘City At War’, ‘Shredder In Hell’, and ‘Armageddon Game’ where we’d humanized Shredder some, but Shredder can only play nice for so long so now we wanted the pendulum to swing back the other way a bit, give us a scary, nasty, big time bad guy again. I don’t know about you, but I think Dan Watters, Michele Bandini, Sid Kotian and Marco Lesko have delivered in glorious fashion. Shredder is back, and badder than ever!”
“For Casey, we had an interesting setup because he’d just been shot in the main series, he’d had a near-death experience, and Alex Paknadel and editor Dave Wielgosz wanted to really look at how that would affect someone like Casey, who hasn’t always been the best at taking care of himself. Would getting shot make him more careful, or more reckless? What would he want to do on the other side of an experience like that? Well, he’d go looking for trouble, and boy, has he found it,” Thomas said. “They’ve set him up with a great antagonist, as Casey, a human who has always been more comfortable around mutants, now finds himself up against a mutant who wants nothing more than to be human, and resents Casey more than anyone. Just great, action-packed, operatic stuff, and Amancay Nahuelpan and Luis Antonio Delgado are absolutely delivering the goods on art.”
As for the future, there’s good news on that front, with Thomas saying, “We’ve definitely got some more solo (and, possibly…duo?) books in discussion I’m VERY excited about.” That led to our next question regarding April O’Neal, who has had some awesome moments in the main series lately, and we wanted to know if there’s any chance to see her in her own solo series. “Speaking of solo books in consideration! We’ve been chatting about an April book as that’s been on a lot of our lists for a while now. Hopefully that’s something we can put together sooner rather than later, as I’d love to see April in the spotlight,” Thomas said.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Expands To The Multiverse And Godzilla With Ease
Moving to the multiiversal battleground of Battle Nexus, the series has brought together all eras of Turtles and created some dream scenarios that many fans never thought they would see. Thomas broke down everything that went into making this grand event a reality and teased an epic match-up to come.
“This event was put together by my predecessor, Andy Khouri, who did a great job assembling some incredible talent and a lot of really awesome throwdowns in the grand Battle Nexus tradition. Our folks at Paramount, especially Jeff Whitman and Benjamin Harper, were huge helps in navigating what characters we could use across all the different iterations, it was really quite an endeavor, even from my vantage point coming in once most of it had already been assembled,” Thomas said. “And aren’t those backup stories a treat?! Erik Burnham and Sarah Myer are such a dream team. I do have to say, I think my favorite matchup is the final one in Battle Nexus #5. Pick it up to check it out!”
Last but certainly far from least is the epic clash of franchises that is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Godzilla. To describe the series as wild would be a severe understatement, and we’re still early on in the series. That’s why we asked Thomas what he could tease about future issues and which Kaiji confrontation is his favorite of the series.
“I love this story. What editor Jake Williams is doing with the whole Godzilla line is so fun and exciting, and Tim Seeley is just so good at finding those big moments that make you go “Holy ****!” which is exactly what you want out of a story about the TMNT fighting the best and biggest kaiju monsters ever! And of course with Fero Pe and Luis Antonio Delgado on art duties, you can’t beat it! Just wait till you see issue #4, absolutely jaws-on-the-floor stuff in there. As for the monsters I want to see, my son’s favorite is King Ghidorah, so the Thomas household is already pleased as punch,” Thomas said.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #14 is in comic stores now, while Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Battle Nexus #3 is in stores on January 21st. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones #4 hits comic stores on January 28th, followed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Godzilla #3 on February 4th.
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Official art by Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme -
Image courtesy of Tor Books/Macmillan -
A photo of the Retrovolt Arcade taken in 2017, showing several classic arcade cabinets and stools. -
Courtesy of TOHO Animation
