Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Sequel Could Embrace Cast Hitting Puberty

One of the most inventive decisions for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was to feature a cast of actual teenagers to voice its heroes, a choice that has also earned the film significant praise. A potential challenge with the cast's real-life maturity means that, for a sequel, the characters could sound a bit different, but director Jeff Rowe teased that a sequel could intentionally embrace those changes, as they are changes that the beloved Teenage Turtles would go through themselves. In addition to a confirmed sequel being on the way, the TV series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is also in the works. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is in theaters now.

"[D]oing the film was contingent on casting real teenagers in the roles, and I think it was just understood very early on that this will be four unknown actors," Rowe recalled to /Film of the casting process. "We're going to do a big casting search. We worked with Rich Delia who was so good at this and brought us hundreds of people and we found Nick [Cantu], Brady [Noon], Micah [Abbey], and Shamon [Brown, Jr.], who are all amazing. But I think beyond that, the studio wanted some names in there and some marketability, so we went bigger on all of the other roles."

In regards to the teen-aged stars going through their own physical changes, Rowe admitted, "I think we'll lean into it. It would be the funniest thing in the world if for movie two, Micah Abbey just has the world's deepest voice and we're just like, 'Okay, great. Let's make him huge now. Let's give him muscles,' whatever. Our whole filmmaking philosophy is built around accommodating reality, if that makes sense. So if the kids are changing in their lives, then the Turtles should change in the film and we'll just write to that."

With the stars themselves being between the ages of 15 and 18, we can't entirely expect their voices to undergo massive changes in the coming years, but given the unpredictability of hormonal changes, it's entirely possible all four actors could sound drastically different by the time a new installment in the franchise comes around. Additionally, the current actors' and writers' strikes mean it could be quite some time before we get a new chapter in the saga.

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.

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