Ice Cube Teases NYC Pop Culture References in TMNT: Mutant Mayhem

Ice Cube, who appears in the upcoming animated movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, says it was his idea to quote Ice T in the movie. Ice T, who has been appearing in the Law & Order franchise since 1990, is a New York City icon, and that opened the door to the Turtles and company being pretty aware of him. The look and feel of Mutant Mayhem is as influenced by the look of New York as any TMNT project ever, even looking more “New York” in places than the live-action movies actually shot partially in the city.

Inspired by movies like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a new generation of ambitious animated movies like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem have started to seep into the blockbuster space, giving a cool, tactile update to properties that had previously been fairly by-the-numbers in terms of their style, even when the scripts themselves were strong.

“I wanted to throw as many pop culture references as I could think of,” Cube told ComicBook.com’s Chris Killian. “He’s Superfly. He’s the King of New York, you’ve got to check in — you check ’em for the ops, if you’re an op, you’re going to have to deal with it. I wanted to make sure that all that got into this story about underground New York. We had fun with it.”

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

According to the film’s official synopsis, “In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, 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. 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.”

Teenage Mutans Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem stars Micah Abbey as Donatello, Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo, and Brady Noon Raphael. The cast also includes Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog, Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, John Cena as Rocksteady, Jackie Chan as Splinter, Ice Cube as Superfly, Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Post Malone as Ray Fillet, Seth Rogen as Bebop, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko, and Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayem opens in theaters on August 4th.

Editor’s note: This interview was conducted prior to the SAG actors’ strike.