Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem makes quite a few changes to what many fans would consider to be the "established" lore (though there's been numerous different interpretations over the years), particularly when it comes to the Turtles' wise rodent sensei.
If you haven't seen Mutant Mayhem yet, spoilers follow.
This take on Splinter is quite a bit different to the calm, centered ninja master we're used to, and is introduced as a concerned, human-fearing father who desperately wants to keep his sons from harm. As the story progresses, Splinter begins to realize that his own sense of loneliness is one of the reasons he's so adamant that the boys stay down in the sewers with him.
At one point, Splinter points out how difficult it is to "meet other mutants his age," indicating that he really would like a partner to share his life with. At the end of the movie, he finds that special someone in the form of... Scumbug!?
Yes, the gross cockroach TMNT villain is reimagined as one of Superfly's allies who eventually joins forces with the Turtles. There's been some nonsense online about Splinter being "gay now," but the movie makes it very clear that this take on Scumbug is a female.
Have you been to see Mutant Mayhem yet? If you'd like to find out what I made of the movie, you can check out the new episode of the Roll Credits podcast below.
“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.”
Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu and Brady Noon will voice the roles of Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael, respectively. The cast also includes Jackie Chan as Splinter, Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog, Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, Ice Cube as Superfly, Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Post Malone as Ray Fillet, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko, and Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom.
Jeff Rowe (The Mitchells vs. the Machines) directed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, which is produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.