Nickelodeon's Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opening titles not only offer a new look at the newly-redesigned brothers in action, it also debuts a number of new villains the team will face in their first season — and, possibly, a new power for Raphael.
Now the leader of the team, Raph appears to have a special ability to go with his role as the head of the quartet. At the 19-second mark, Raph is seen smashing his fists together, apparently summoning his chi to give himself an instant power boost. Whether he alone manifests this ability in the new series, or if it’s something Donatello, Michelangelo and Leonardo can tap into as well, remains to be seen.
The opening sequence also debuts a number of new villains — or bad guys so dramatically redesigned we don’t recognize them. The closing moments bring John Cena’s Baron Draxum into the spotlight, as the massive new villain dwarfs the Turtles, though whether this is how big he’ll actually be on the show or if it’s merely some dramatic license for the opening credits we don’t yet know.
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a brand-new 2D-animated series which follows the band of brothers as they discover new powers and encounter a mystical world they never knew existed beneath the streets of New York City.
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reimagines the characters in a fresh new way, featuring jagged-shelled Raphael as a snapping turtle, wielding twin tonfas as his weapons; Leonardo as a red-eared slider, using an ōdachi sword; Donatello as a soft-shell turtle, sporting a tech-bo staff; and Michelangelo as a box turtle, arming himself with a kusari-fundo. Along for the adventure is the Turtles’ most trusted ally, April O’Neil, a street savvy native New Yorker and Splinter, father figure and sensei to the Turtles.
The series stars the voice talent of Omar Miller (Ballers) as Raphael, Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) as Leonardo, Josh Brener (Silicon Valley) as Donatello, Brandon Mychal Smith (You’re The Worst) as Michelangelo, Kat Graham (The Vampire Diaries) as April O’Neil and Eric Bauza (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) as Splinter. WWE Superstar John Cena lends his voice as villain, Baron Draxum, an alchemist warrior mutant who seeks to turn all of humanity into mutants. In addition to Baron Draxum, the Turtle bros will also be doing battle with new villains such as Meat Sweats, Hypno-Potamus, Warren Stone and Albearto in the series.
Nickelodeon’s Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Pictured (clockwise): Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello and April O’Neil.
The Turtles’ hold distinct personality traits and skills, including: Raphael, as the oldest and biggest brother, he is the leader full of enthusiasm and bravado; Leonardo, the self-professed ‘coolest’ brother possesses irreverent charm and a rebel heart; Donatello, a mechanical genius and tech wizard whose ninja skills are second only to his coding; and Michelangelo, the youngest brother, a skateboarder and artist who is wild and imaginative.
Viewers can visit the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles page on Nick.com for more information and follow @TMNT for Turtle Power updates.
The new 26-episode series is co-executive produced by Andy Suriano (character designer, Samurai Jack) and Ant Ward (supervising producer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) at Nickelodeon in Burbank. Veteran animation industry voice actor Rob Paulsen is voice directing the series. The series is being animated by Flying Bark in Australia. Long-time TMNT master toy licensee Playmates will release a Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy line in the lead up to the Christmas holidays. Penguin Random House will also be releasing a range of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles books in September 2018.
Considered one of the most popular kids’ television programs of the 1980s, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a classic, global property created in 1984 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It first debuted as a successful comic book series and then became a hit animated TV show, a live-action television series and later spawned numerous blockbuster theatrical releases. The property is a global consumer products powerhouse, winning in every category that has hit shelves to date—with toys, apparel, video games, DVDs and more—and generating billions of dollars at retail. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been the number-one action figure for the past three years and the franchise is a previous recipient of the Toy Industry Association’s top honor for Property of the Year at the TOTY Awards.
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Additional source: CBR.com.
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