The TMNT movie spin-off show is inspired by Superbad and honors the original comics in a unique way

Back in 2023, Paramount announced a spin-off series to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem that would see the heroes in half-shell return for Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Paramount Plus.

Now, as executive producer Chris Yost tells Total Film in our new issue out on Thursday, July 19, which features Alien: Romulus on the cover, there is a surprise inspiration for the upcoming summer show.

“I watched a lot of Superbad, really, more or less, to get the voice,” says Yost of the 2007 teen comedy classic, starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera. “We watched the movie over and over.”

Picking up where Mutant Mayhem left off, after Superfly buzzed his way through a trail of destruction in New York, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are framed as the comic-book doodlings of Leonardo, harking back to the Turtles’ roots as comic-book characters precisely 40 years ago.

“We always try to honour the comics, because that’s where it all came from,” says Yost. “Forty years later, here we are, telling these stories.”

(Image credit: Paramount+)

In an exclusive image, which you can see above, the four turtles are all seen in a flurry of explosions and chaos, fittingly saving the day.

Pre-order the Alien: Romulus issue of Total Film

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles streams on Paramount Plus from August 10. And you can read more about it and a whole lot else besides in the new issue of Total Film when it hits shelves and digital newsstands on Thursday, July 19.

Check out the covers below:

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios/Disney)

Pre-order the issue here to bag your copy or click here to subscribe to Total Film and never miss another exclusive. You’ll get every issue before it’s in stores and you’ll get subscriber-exclusive covers. 

(Image credit: Total Film/20th Century Studios/Disney/Marvel Studios/Warner Bros/Prime Video/Universal)