Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Reveals Alternate April O’Neil Designs

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is now playing in theaters, and the new animated feature is a hit with critics and audiences alike. While the film didn’t win its first weekend at the box office, it is up on Rotten Tomatoes with an impressive 96% critics score and 93% audience score. Fans of the franchise are loving the new take, which features an actual teen voice cast for the titular turtles, and a whole new version of April O’Neil. The character is voiced by The Bear‘s Ayo Edebiri, and fans are loving everything about her, especially her new look. Recently, character designer James A. Castillo took to Twitter to share some alternate designs of April.

“THE NEW TMNT FILM IS OUT! #TMNTMovieWhen I joined #MutantMayhem my first assigment was to work on April O’Neil. NO PRESSURE,” Castillo wrote. “We tried making her relatable and grounded in the real world while keeping some of the details that make her so iconic. I personally love her in the film.” You can check out the designs below:

Ayo Edebiri Talks Playing April O’Neil:

Edebiri spoke with Collider ahead of the SAG strike, and she had nothing but praise for the new version of April O’Neil.

“I think the fact that she’s a journalist, that she’s got this friendship and this bond with them, and is such an iconic character to people, I feel like there’s just a lot of people who have so much fondness for her,” Edebiri shared. “[Laughs] A lot of early first crushes. But I loved that in this iteration I felt like she had so much agency and was her own person and had her own goals and uses that or feels that in tandem with the Turtles, if that makes sense. She has her own goals, she has her own drive, she wants to crack a story, but she realizes throughout the journey of the movie also how important friendship is with these little Turtle freaks.”

What Is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem About?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem marks the latest movie in the long-running media franchise, and a new reboot for four turtle brothers. Seth Rogen produced the movie, and lends his voice to its huge ensemble cast. In the film, the titular heroes venture out into the real world after years of living isolated in the sewers. Though they try to be recognized as normal teenagers by their heroics, a crime syndicate with an army of mutants makes everything more difficult for them and threatens their plans for joining society. The voice cast for the film includes Micah Abbey as Donatello, Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo, and Brady Noon as Raphael. TMNT: Mutant Mayhem includes a slew of celebrities as well like Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, Jackie Chan as Splinter, Seth Rogen as Bebop, John Cena as Rocksteady, Ice Cube as Superfly, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko, and Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem opened in theaters on August 2nd.