Ninja Turtles recap: the story so far

No. 01 · 1987 · Series

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles recap

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) follows four pizza-loving turtle brothers fighting the Shredder and the alien brain Krang from the New York sewers. Produced by Fred Wolf Films, the cartoon opened as a five-part syndicated miniseries in December 1987, added CBS Saturday mornings in 1990 and ran until November 1996: ten seasons and 193 episodes. Splinter is Hamato Yoshi (Peter Renaday), a human ninja master turned into a rat by the same ooze that mutated Leonardo (Cam Clarke), Donatello (Barry Gordon), Raphael (Rob Paulsen) and Michelangelo (Townsend Coleman). Channel 6 reporter April O'Neil (Renae Jacobs) becomes their closest ally, while Oroku Saki, the Shredder (James Avery), schemes with Krang (Pat Fraley), Bebop and Rocksteady to bring the Technodrome to the surface. The early seasons play the villains for laughs, and season 7 adds a European vacation side-season. From season 8 the "Red Sky" years turn darker: the brothers banish Shredder and Krang to Dimension X, then face Lord Dregg, an alien warlord who turns the public against them, along with fresh mutations and a new human ally, Carter. This is the first screen version of the Turtles and stands alone; its characters return in Turtles Forever and in crossover episodes of the 2012 series.

How Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ends

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) ends with "Divide and Conquer" (November 2, 1996), in which Lord Dregg absorbs the power of several super-beings and Michelangelo and Donatello travel to the wrecked Technodrome in Dimension X to fetch Krang's android body. Using it, the Turtles defeat Dregg and banish him to Dimension X, and Splinter tells them he has nothing left to teach: they are now his equals. Shredder and Krang had already been sent back to Dimension X for good a few episodes earlier. Compared with the Mirage comics, the show makes Splinter a mutated Hamato Yoshi, plays the brothers for comedy and invents Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady.

No. 02 · 1990 · Film

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles recap

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) follows four mutant turtle brothers and their rat master Splinter into a war with the Foot Clan. Steve Barron directs, with Jim Henson's Creature Shop building the turtle suits. Channel 3 reporter April O'Neil (Judith Hoag) is attacked while chasing a crime wave and rescued by Leonardo (Brian Tochi), Raphael (Josh Pais), Donatello (Corey Feldman) and Michelangelo (Robbie Rist). The Foot, a ring of runaway teenage thieves run by the Shredder (James Saito), raids the lair and kidnaps Splinter (Kevin Clash). Raphael clashes with Leonardo, is ambushed on a rooftop, and hockey-masked vigilante Casey Jones (Elias Koteas) helps the group escape to April's family farm upstate. There the brothers recover, reach Splinter through meditation and head back to the city. Danny Pennington, the son of April's boss, hears from the captive Splinter how Oroku Saki murdered his master Hamato Yoshi. The original live-action trilogy starts here and continues with The Secret of the Ooze (1991).

How Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ends

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) ends with a rooftop duel in which the Shredder overpowers the brothers until Splinter appears and names him as Oroku Saki. Splinter catches Saki's spear with Michelangelo's nunchaku and lets him drop into a garbage truck, and Casey switches on the compactor. The police round up the Foot, Danny goes home to his father, April gets her job back and kisses Casey, and the Turtles celebrate with Splinter. The Secret of the Ooze picks up shortly after. The story adapts the early Mirage comics, including Splinter as Yoshi's pet rat, while borrowing some lighter touches from the cartoon then on air.

Post-credits scenes

No. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) has no mid- or post-credits scene.

No. 03 · 1991 · Film

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze recap

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) brings back a scarred Shredder, who steals the last of the ooze that made the Turtles. Michael Pressman directs this sequel, with Paige Turco taking over as April O'Neil. The brothers, voiced by Brian Tochi, Laurie Faso, Adam Carl and Robbie Rist, are living with April and Splinter (Kevin Clash) while they look for a new home, and they befriend Keno (Ernie Reyes Jr.), a pizza delivery boy trained in martial arts. Splinter reveals the ooze came from Techno Global Research Industries, so they look for its scientist, Professor Jordan Perry (David Warner), but the Foot kidnaps him first. The Shredder (François Chau) forces Perry to mutate a snapping turtle and a wolf into Tokka and Rahzar, huge brutes with the minds of infants. Raphael storms off after a row with Leonardo and is captured, and Perry admits the ooze was an accident. It follows the 1990 film and leads into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993).

How Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze ends

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze ends with a brawl in a dance club where Vanilla Ice is performing, as the Turtles turn Tokka and Rahzar back into ordinary animals with Perry's antidote and a round of fire extinguishers. The Shredder grabs a hostage, is thrown out to the docks and drinks the last of the ooze, becoming the giant Super Shredder (Kevin Nash). His rampage brings the pier down on top of him while the brothers shelter in the water. April reads Perry's thank-you note to the Turtles, and Splinter punishes them with flips for being seen. Casey Jones does not appear in this entry.

Post-credits scenes

No. The Secret of the Ooze has no mid- or post-credits scene.

No. 04 · 1993 · Film

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III recap

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) sends the brothers back to 1603 Japan after a magic scepter swaps April O'Neil with a young prince. Stuart Gillard writes and directs the last film of the original live-action trilogy. A year after the Foot's second defeat, April (Paige Turco) buys the scepter at a flea market for Splinter (James Murray), and it trades her place in time with Kenshin (Henry Hayashi), son of the warlord Lord Norinaga (Sab Shimono). Donatello (Corey Feldman) works out that they have 60 hours before it loses power, so Leonardo (Brian Tochi), Raphael (Tim Kelleher), Michelangelo (Robbie Rist) and Donatello follow her, leaving Casey Jones (Elias Koteas) to watch Kenshin and four confused honor guards. In the past they rescue April and Whit, a Casey lookalike, while Michelangelo is captured by Mitsu (Vivian Wu), who leads villagers against Norinaga and his English arms dealer Walker (Stuart Wilson). The village hides the scepter so the Turtles will stay and fight, and Whit betrays them. It follows The Secret of the Ooze; TMNT (2007) later continues the same timeline.

How Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III ends

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III ends with the Turtles storming Norinaga's palace, where Leonardo beats Norinaga in a sword duel; at the docks a repentant Whit knocks Walker into the river with a flaming boulder. Michelangelo and Raphael consider staying in a past where they feel valued, but Kenshin has to go home. The brothers swap back just before the scepter runs out, with the last honor guard trading places with a stranded Michelangelo at the final moment, and in the present Splinter cheers Mikey up with an Elvis impression. Co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird asked that the Shredder, killed in the previous film, stay dead.

Post-credits scenes

No. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III has no mid- or post-credits scene.

No. 05 · 1997 · Series · optional

Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation recap

Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997) adds a fifth turtle, Venus de Milo, who helps the brothers beat the Shredder and a dragon army, the Rank. Saban Entertainment made it for Fox Kids, where it ran from September 1997 to May 1998 for one season of 26 episodes; shot in Vancouver, it is the franchise's only live-action series. Venus (Nicole Parker, voiced by Lalainia Lindbjerg) was mutated with the others but raised in Chinatown by Chung, who trained her as a shinobi with magic powers. Leonardo (voiced by Michael Dobson), Raphael (Matt Hill), Michaelangelo (Kirby Morrow) and Donatello (Jason Gray-Stanford) live with Splinter (voiced by Stephen Mendel). In the five-part opener, "East Meets West", Venus uses her magic to drive the Shredder (Patrick Pon) mad and the Foot Clan breaks up. The Dragon Lord then escapes an enchanted mirror with his Rank soldiers, and the brothers also face the scientist Dr. Cornelius Quease, the big-game hunter Simon Bonesteel and the vampire Vam-Mi. April O'Neil and Casey Jones never appear. Promoted as a follow-on to the 1987 cartoon while reusing sets and ideas from the film trilogy, the show stands alone.

How Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation ends

Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation ends with "Who Needs Her" (May 15, 1998), a clip episode in which the brothers mock Venus for botching a togetherness spell and she storms out, leaving them magically stuck together. While Splinter undoes the spell, they look back on her adventures and admit she is family; when they track her down, she has already escaped the Rank by herself. The Dragon Lord is never beaten, since the series stopped after its single season. Beyond adding Venus, the show departs from other versions by having Leonardo say the Turtles are not blood brothers and by giving Michaelangelo tonfa in place of nunchaku.

No. 06 · 2003 · Series

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles recap

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) takes the brothers into a darker war with the Shredder, here revealed as Ch'rell, an alien Utrom in disguise. Developed by Lloyd Goldfine and co-produced by 4Kids Entertainment and Mirage Studios, it aired on Fox's FoxBox block from February 2003 and moved to The CW for its last season, ending in February 2009 after seven seasons and 155 episodes. Leonardo (Michael Sinterniklaas), Raphael (Greg Abbey), Donatello (Sam Riegel) and Michelangelo (Wayne Grayson) live under New York with Splinter (Darren Dunstan), once Hamato Yoshi's pet rat. Season 1 introduces April O'Neil (Veronica Taylor), Casey Jones (Marc Thompson) and the Shredder. Season 2 sends the brothers into space, brings in the Shredder's adopted daughter Karai and ends at the Battle Nexus tournament. Season 3 adds Agent John Bishop and a final battle that ends with Ch'rell exiled, and season 4 deals with Leonardo's trauma and Bishop's staged alien invasion. In season 5, Ninja Tribunal, the brothers train to defeat the original demon Shredder. Fast Forward (season 6) moves them to 2105 with a new comic look, and Back to the Sewer (season 7) brings them home to face a Cyber Shredder. The 2009 TV film Turtles Forever serves as its true finale.

How Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ends

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) ends its broadcast run with "Wedding Bells and Bytes" (February 28, 2009), in which the brothers rebuild Splinter from his scattered data in time for April and Casey's wedding at April's farm. A bug hidden in Splinter's data lets the Cyber Shredder track them and the Foot crash the ceremony, and allies from other worlds, dimensions and eras arrive to help the Turtles take him on as April and Casey marry. The TV film Turtles Forever (2009) acts as the real series finale, pairing these Turtles with the 1987 cartoon versions. Unlike the 1987 show, this version keeps close to the Mirage comics, adapting arcs such as the Utroms and the Triceratons.

No. 07 · 2007 · Film

TMNT recap

TMNT (2007) finds the four brothers drifted apart after the Shredder's final defeat, until a tycoon's hunt for ancient monsters forces them back together. Kevin Munroe writes and directs this CGI film, which continues the timeline of the live-action trilogy. Leonardo (James Arnold Taylor) is training in Central America; Raphael (Nolan North) fights crime at night as the masked Nightwatcher; Donatello (Mitchell Whitfield) works IT support; and Michelangelo (Mikey Kelley) entertains at birthday parties. April O'Neil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) now trades relics with her boyfriend Casey Jones (Chris Evans) and delivers a statue to Max Winters (Patrick Stewart), secretly Yaotl, an immortal warlord. Winters hires Karai (Ziyi Zhang) and the Foot to capture thirteen monsters that escaped from a portal he opened long ago, and revives his four stone generals. Splinter (Mako) bans crime-fighting until the brothers work as a team, but Raphael and Leonardo keep clashing. After Raphael nearly kills Leonardo in a rooftop duel, the generals capture Leonardo to complete their set of thirteen.

How TMNT ends

TMNT ends at Winters' tower, where the portal opens and the generals reveal they mean to stay immortal. Raphael rallies Splinter, April and Casey to save Leonardo, Karai and the Foot help bring in the last monster, and the generals are dragged into the portal and turned human. Now mortal, Yaotl thanks the Turtles and passes on, and Karai warns that the Shredder will return. Planned sequels were cancelled after Nickelodeon bought the franchise in 2009, so that tease never paid off, and the film series was rebooted in live action in 2014. Mako died during production, and Greg Baldwin voices much of Splinter's dialogue.

Post-credits scenes

No. TMNT has no mid- or post-credits scene; the end credits carry a dedication to Mako.

No. 08 · 2009 · Film

Turtles Forever recap

Turtles Forever (2009) strands the 1987 cartoon Turtles in the 2003 series' world, where both teams must stop the Utrom Shredder from erasing every Turtle. Roy Burdine and Lloyd Goldfine direct this 25th-anniversary TV film, which premiered on The CW4Kids on November 21, 2009. The 2003 brothers, voiced by their regular cast led by Michael Sinterniklaas as Leonardo, meet goofier doubles of themselves who arrived along with the 1987 Shredder, Krang, Bebop, Rocksteady and the Technodrome. That Shredder frees Ch'rell (Scottie Ray), the Utrom Shredder, from his icy exile, but Ch'rell is too unhinged to share power, and Karai (Karen Neill) helps him seize the Technodrome. He rebuilds it with Utrom technology, turns his Foot soldiers and Hun into mutants, and learns of Turtle Prime, the dimension every version of the Turtles comes from. Captured and scanned, then quietly freed by a wavering Karai, the eight Turtles watch the 2003 world start to vanish and flee to Turtle Prime, home of the black-and-white Mirage comic versions. It follows season 7 of the 2003 series and serves as its finale.

How Turtles Forever ends

Turtles Forever ends with twelve Turtles, joined by Splinter, Karai, the 1987 Shredder and Krang, fighting Ch'rell in Turtle Prime. His giant exo-suit seizes the Mirage Turtles, but the 1987 Turtles knock him off balance, and Bebop accidentally fires the Technodrome's laser and vaporizes him. Every erased world is restored, the teams go home, and the comic Turtles head out for pizza. A closing scene shows Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, voicing themselves, finishing the first issue of the comic and hoping it sells. None of the 1987 voice actors return; replacements voice their characters.

No. 09 · 2012 · Series

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles recap

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) follows the teenage brothers on their first trips to the surface, fighting the alien Kraang and the Shredder. Developed by Ciro Nieli, Joshua Sternin and Jennifer Ventimilia, the CGI series ran on Nickelodeon from September 2012 to November 2017, five seasons and 124 episodes, with part of the final season premiering on Nicktoons. Splinter (Hoon Lee) is Hamato Yoshi, mutated by Kraang ooze, and his sons are Leonardo (Jason Biggs, later Seth Green), Raphael (Sean Astin), Donatello (Rob Paulsen) and Michelangelo (Greg Cipes). They befriend April O'Neil (Mae Whitman), a teenager born with strange powers, and Casey Jones (Josh Peck), while the Shredder (Kevin Michael Richardson) raises Splinter's kidnapped daughter as Karai. Season 1 ends with the Kraang's Technodrome sunk, and season 2 with the Kraang conquering the city and the team retreating to a farmhouse. Season 3 retakes New York and ends with the Triceratons destroying Earth, so season 4 travels through space and back in time to prevent it, before Splinter dies fighting Super Shredder. The fifth season, titled Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, runs shorter adventures. The show stands alone, with crossover episodes featuring the 1987 Turtles.

How Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ends

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) ends with Raphael: Mutant Apocalypse, a TV film released September 22, 2017, also shown as three episodes, set decades ahead in a possible ruined future. Raphael crosses the wasteland with Donatello, whose mind now lives in a robot, finds Michelangelo leading followers as the Holy Chalupa, and finally faces Leonardo, who has lost his memory and mutated into the warlord Maximus Kong. Raphael brings Leo back to himself, and the four reunite. The main story wraps earlier: Leonardo kills Super Shredder at the end of season 4, and in season 5 the revived Shredder drags the demon Kavaxas back to the Netherworld.

No. 10 · 2014 · Film

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles recap

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) has reporter April O'Neil discover four vigilante turtles who began as lab animals in her late father's experiment. Jonathan Liebesman directs this reboot produced by Michael Bay. April (Megan Fox) chases the Foot Clan for Channel 6 while her boss ignores her. After the Foot takes hostages in a subway station, four giant figures beat them, and April follows them to a rooftop: Leonardo (Pete Ploszek, voiced by Johnny Knoxville), Raphael (Alan Ritchson), Donatello (Jeremy Howard) and Michelangelo (Noel Fisher). She remembers Project Renaissance, her father's mutagen research, and confides in his old partner, billionaire Eric Sacks (William Fichtner), who was raised by the Shredder (Tohoru Masamune). Splinter (Tony Shalhoub) explains that young April saved them from the fire that killed her father and that he taught himself ninjutsu from a book found in a storm drain. The Shredder raids the lair, and Sacks drains the captured brothers' blood to make the cure for a virus he plans to unleash. This is its own continuity, followed by Out of the Shadows (2016).

How Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ends

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) ends atop a radio tower, where Sacks and the Shredder plant a device to spread the virus over the city. April and her cameraman Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett) subdue Sacks, who admits he killed her father, while the Turtles fight the Shredder on the roof. The tower collapses; the Shredder falls to the street and is arrested, and the brothers ride the spire down with April, confessing secrets they think are their last. Splinter recovers with the mutagen, and Michelangelo blows up Vern's new car with a rocket from the Turtle Van. Unlike earlier versions, this one ties April directly to the Turtles' origin.

Post-credits scenes

No. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) has no mid- or post-credits scene.

No. 11 · 2016 · Film

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows recap

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) sees the Shredder escape and team with the alien Krang to bring the war machine Technodrome to Earth. Dave Green directs this sequel to the 2014 film. Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett) has taken public credit for stopping the Shredder (Brian Tee) while the brothers stay hidden. April O'Neil (Megan Fox) learns that scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) is helping him, and a teleport breakout drops the Shredder in Dimension X, where Krang (Brad Garrett) trades him mutagen for building a three-part device. Stockman uses it to turn two convicts into Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Sheamus), and corrections officer Casey Jones (Stephen Amell) joins the hunt. When Donatello (Jeremy Howard) finds the mutagen could make them human, Leonardo (Pete Ploszek) hides it, and the secret splits him from Raphael (Alan Ritchson) and Michelangelo (Noel Fisher). A police station raid exposes the Turtles and lands April and Casey in custody, and a fight aboard a jet over the Brazilian rainforest fails to stop the last piece reaching the Shredder.

How Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows ends

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows ends with the Turtles stopping Krang's invasion with police help. Krang has frozen the betrayed Shredder in his trophy collection, and once Vern's footage clears April and Casey, Chief Rebecca Vincent (Laura Linney) backs the brothers as they leap from the Chrysler Building onto the half-built Technodrome. Donatello shorts out Krang's robot body, April, Casey and Vern seize the portal device from Bebop, Rocksteady and Karai, and the Turtles throw the ship's beacon back so the Technodrome falls through. Raphael has already smashed the mutagen, and the brothers turn down a public debut. A planned third film was scrapped after weak box office.

Post-credits scenes

No. Out of the Shadows has no mid- or post-credits scene.

No. 12 · 2018 · Series

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles recap

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018) reimagines the brothers as mystic-powered teens led by Raphael, exploring a hidden city under New York. Developed by Ant Ward and Andy Suriano, it premiered on Nickelodeon on July 20, 2018, moved to Nicktoons for its second season and ended on August 7, 2020, after two seasons and 39 episodes, most split into two 11-minute stories. Raphael (Omar Benson Miller) is the eldest and in charge, with Leonardo (Ben Schwartz), Donatello (Josh Brener) and Michelangelo (Brandon Mychal Smith). April O'Neil (Kat Graham) is their human best friend, and Splinter (Eric Bauza) turns out to be Lou Jitsu, a former martial arts movie star. In season 1 the brothers face the alchemist Baron Draxum (John Cena) and the Foot Clan, who are gathering pieces of the Kuroi Yoroi armor to revive the Shredder, a demon Splinter's ancestors banished. A planned 26-episode second season was shortened, and in it the Shredder returns while Draxum slowly finds his better nature. The show stands alone and continues in the 2022 Netflix film.

How Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ends

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ends with the four-part "Finale", aired August 7, 2020. The brothers search Splinter's memories for a way to stop the Shredder and free his daughter Karai from the Twilight Realm, which also releases the demon in full. He wrecks their lair and drives them into the New Jersey woods; the dying Karai passes her soul to April so she can teach them the Hamato ninpo. Draxum turns on the Shredder, and at the Crying Titan the brothers save Splinter and defeat the demon with help from the Foot Recruit. Splinter then names Leonardo leader, which the 2022 Netflix film follows up.

No. 13 · 2019 · Film · optional

Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles recap

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019) brings the brothers to Gotham City, where they join Batman to stop the Shredder and Ra's al Ghul. Jake Castorena directs this direct-to-video animated crossover, based on the comic miniseries by James Tynion IV and Freddie Williams II. Barbara Gordon (Rachel Bloom) spots four "metahumans" during a Foot Clan robbery, and Batman (Troy Baker) springs a trap when the Foot hits Wayne Enterprises for a cloud seeder. Leonardo (Eric Bauza), Raphael (Darren Criss), Donatello (Baron Vaughn) and Michelangelo (Kyle Mooney) have tracked the Shredder (Andrew Kishino) from New York, and after each side mistakes the other for the enemy, Batman beats them. Donatello finds the Batcave, and the Turtles agree to team up with Batman, Batgirl and Robin, Damian Wayne (Ben Giroux). Ra's (Cas Anvar) has promised the Shredder the Lazarus Pit if he sprays mutagen laced with Joker venom over Gotham. At Arkham Asylum, a mutated Joker (also Troy Baker) turns Batman into a monstrous bat. The story sits outside every Turtles continuity.

How Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ends

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ends at Ace Chemicals, where the Bat-family and the Turtles fight through the Foot and the League of Assassins. Leonardo subdues Ra's, Batman beats the Shredder with a distraction from Raphael, and Donatello and Michelangelo sabotage the cloud seeder, which crashes, destroys the plant and knocks the Shredder into a vat of Joker venom. Back at the Batcave, Batman surprises the Turtles with a pizza party before they head home. The adaptation drops the comic's dimension-hopping and places both teams in one shared world.

Post-credits scenes

Yes. A post-credits scene shows the Shredder climbing out of the ruins of Ace Chemicals, now Joker-faced and laughing.

No. 14 · 2022 · Film

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie recap

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (2022) sends Casey Jones back from a 2044 overrun by the alien Krang to stop the invasion before it starts. Andy Suriano and Ant Ward direct this Netflix film, which continues the 2018 series months after the Shredder's defeat. In the future, Leonardo and Michelangelo die getting their student Casey (Haley Joel Osment) through time. In the present, Leonardo (Ben Schwartz) has grown cocky, which grates on Raphael (Omar Miller), while Donatello (Josh Brener) and Michelangelo (Brandon Mychal Smith) tag along. The Foot Clan steals a mystic key that opens the Krang's prison dimension, and Splinter (Eric Bauza) explains that ancient warriors used it to lock them away. When the portal opens, Krang One (Jim Pirri) drains the brothers' powers; Leonardo grabs the key and Raphael is captured covering his escape. The Krang possess Raphael and the Foot, and April O'Neil (Kat Graham) and Splinter fight to hide the key. The Krang then open the portal atop the Metro Tower and bring the Technodrome down on New York.

How Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie ends

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie ends with Leonardo freeing Raphael from Krang One aboard the Technodrome and the brothers regaining their powers. April, Splinter and Casey defeat Krang Two, and Leonardo forces Krang One back into the prison dimension and orders Casey to close the portal, trapping himself inside. Michelangelo uses his new portal power to pull him out, leaving Krang One sealed away for good. Over pizza on the Brooklyn Bridge, Casey reveals that his mother is Cassandra Jones, the former Foot recruit from the series. Leonardo's role as leader, set up at the end of the show, is the film's main thread.

No. 15 · 2023 · Film

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem recap

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) follows four teenage turtle brothers hoping to win over New York by beating a mutant crime boss, Superfly. Jeff Rowe directs this animated reboot. Scientist Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito) dies in a raid ordered by TCRI executive Cynthia Utrom (Maya Rudolph), and his ooze mutates four turtles and a rat, Splinter (Jackie Chan), who raises them to fear humans. Fifteen years later, Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Raphael (Brady Noon), Donatello (Micah Abbey) and Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) recover the stolen moped of student reporter April O'Neil (Ayo Edebiri), who is investigating Superfly's thefts of TCRI technology. The brothers discover that Superfly (Ice Cube) is a mutant fly leading a gang that includes Bebop (Seth Rogen) and Rocksteady (John Cena), and bond with them until he reveals his plan to mutate every animal on Earth and put mutants on top. TCRI captures the Turtles to extract their ooze, and April brings Splinter to free them. It starts a new continuity, continued by the series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

How Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem ends

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem ends with the other mutants turning on Superfly, whose machine spills ooze into the water and fuses him with sea creatures and zoo animals into a giant monster. Leonardo finds his voice as leader, April takes over a news broadcast to vouch for the mutants, and New Yorkers help the Turtles drop TCRI's retro-mutagen into Superfly's blowhole, splitting him back into ordinary animals. The brothers enroll at April's high school. Cynthia, holding the unmutated Superfly, plans to bring in the Shredder, who is the villain of the sequel set for August 13, 2027.

Post-credits scenes

Yes. A mid-credits scene teases the Shredder as the next villain.

No. 16 · 2024 · Series

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles recap

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2024) picks up two months after Mutant Mayhem as the teenage brothers juggle heroics and growing up in New York. Christopher Yost and Alan Wan run the 2D animated Paramount+ series, which released two seasons of 12 episodes each, on August 9, 2024, and December 12, 2025. Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon and Ayo Edebiri return as Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael and April O'Neil, while Splinter speaks only a gibberish "vermin" (Fred Tatasciore). Each arc is framed as a tale told by one of the brothers, and the stories often split them up to work alone. Season 1 brings in Bishop (Alanna Ubach), an inventor who sees mutants as a threat and fields robot Mechazoids, and the East River Three, mutant sea creatures led by Goldfin (Timothy Olyphant), who flood the city in a storm while chasing a giant pearl. Season 2 adds a mutant battle arena, the Purple Dragons, Leonardo as the masked Night Ninja, Tokka and Rahzar, and Michelangelo's rich friend Rod Underwood (Pete Davidson), whose family is after mutant blood. It sits between Mutant Mayhem and its 2027 sequel.

How Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ends

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ends with "The Big Muck", released December 12, 2025, in which Michelangelo and Rod confront Rod's father, Roderick Underwood Sr., over Rod's kidnapping and the missing mutagen, and the brothers back Mikey against the mutant Muckman. Paramount had cancelled the show in November 2025, a month before season 2 arrived, after management changes from the Paramount-Skydance merger. An IDW tie-in comic carries on past the show, and the Mutant Mayhem sequel, with the Shredder as its villain, is set for August 13, 2027.