The Darkest TMNT Timeline is Getting the Video Game Treatment
Get ready to experience The Last Ronin, the “Old Man Logan” of TMNT storylines coming soon to a controller near you.
Video games based on comics vary in quality. Some are considered masterpieces, like Batman: Arkham Asylum. They can also be pure garbage like Superman 64. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are no strangers to this phenomenon.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic was created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in 1984 as a parody of popular trends at the time: teenagers, mutants, ninjas, and talking animals. The comics gained a following very quickly and it only escalated from there. The series has since produced toys, manga, television shows, movies, and yes, video games.
The heroes in a half-shell have gone through many changes since their first appearance in 1984. They’ve also consistently shown up in video games since 1989. Now, looks like the grittiest Ninja Turtles story of them all will be making its gaming debut soon.
via IDW
The Last Ronin
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin was a five-issue miniseries first released in 2020. The story was a collaboration between the original creators Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird, plus Tom Waltz, Andy Kuhn, and Ben Bates. The series was created to be like Old Man Logan–a dark future that could happen but wasn’t part of the main-title continuity.
In a dystopian future, only one Ninja Turtle remains. After an all-out war with the Foot Clan ends with the deaths of the majority of the Turtles and their friends, the last of them (you’ll have to guess which one) goes to New York City to get revenge years later. When he arrives, he discovers that the Shredder’s grandson has fully taken over NYC with powerful cybernetic ninjas to keep people from rising up.
Armed with the weapons of his fallen brothers, he must team up with Casey & April’s daughter to free the city and fulfill the promise he made to his fallen family. It was a mystery of who survived until the end of the 1st issue.
Polygon interviewed Doug Rosen, Senior Vice President for Games and Emerging Media at Paramount Global, who let us know that The Last Ronin would be adapted into a video game. He said it will be heavily inspired by the new God of War games in design. Only one turtle remains, so it will be a single-player game with Rosen hinting flashbacks will let you play as those who fell.
via IDW
Rosen let Polygon know that TMNT fans now span older and younger audiences, so it only makes sense to make things both of them will enjoy. He didn’t say who would be developing the game, but that it would be a “few years” away from any kind of release. Rosen and Paramount are confident they found the right studio for the job and that the franchise can take “multiple approaches, and not dial back to make the game something it shouldn’t be.” This is great to hear if people are worried the game will shy away from the darkest aspects of the story to make it more accessible.
The Future of Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ future is much brighter than the world of Last Ronin. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge let everyone know the series can still produce solid video games and The Cowabunga Collection was the shot of nostalgia all of us TMNT fans deserved.
The series also has a brand-new CGI movie coming out this year, a long-running IDW comic series, and merchandise for all ages.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a series that has endured for decades now and it looks like they don’t plan to slow down anytime soon. I for one couldn’t be happier about that.
“COWABUNGA!” – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
