Despite reports over the summer claiming that Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had expanded from two seasons to four, it’s now been confirmed that season two will be the show’s last.
The report stemmed from a Playmates Toys licensing presentation, which purported that the episode count was increased due to the fact that the sequel was delayed from 2026 to 2027.
Earlier this year, executive producer Seth Rogen mentioned that the animatics for the sequel had already been completed.
For an animated film, the animatic is an essential early step, a rough, timed-out version of the movie built from storyboards and temporary audio that essentially locks in the pacing and overall structure.
But with the recent news that the animated series is ending earlier than expected, combined with the first film’s lukewarm box office results, the status of Mutant Mayhem 2 has become a real point of concern.
Fans on social media are openly wondering whether the sequel is still moving forward as planned or if it could end up delayed, or even shelved entirely.
In the wake of the Paramount Skydance merger, Paramount Animation president Ramsey Naito resigned in late October.
With the merger, the new company now has two animation studios, along with John Lasseter's Skydance Animation.
It seems inevitable that at some point, the two studios will merge or at least eliminate jobs that overlap.Naito's exit comes amid 1,000 initial job eliminations across the newly created company.
Additional reports state that it's expected that the layoff number will climb to 2,000 once the restructuring is complete.
The animated series served as a continuation of the 2023 animated film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Directed by Jeff Rowe, and written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Mutant Mayhem earned $180.5M worldwide from an estimated production budget of $70M.
The Paramount+/Nickelodeon series was meant to bridge the gap between an animated film sequel, which will introduce the Shredder. The sequel is currently set to hit theaters on September 17, 2027.
From Nickelodeon Animation and Point Grey Pictures, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is executive produced by Chris Yost (The Mandalorian) and Alan Wan (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).
Production is overseen for Nickelodeon by Claudia Spinelli, Senior Vice President of Big Kids Animation and Nikki Price, Director of Development and Executive in Charge of Production.
Paramount+ will begin streaming Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on August 10. The show will mark the first time that a 2D Nicktoon will premiere on Paramount+ first.
Flying Bark Productions, who animated the film, will also be handling production duties on the series.
The first season consisted of 12 episodes.
Actors Micah Abbey (Donatello), Shamon Brown Jr. ( Michelangelo), Brady Noon (Raphael), Nicolas Cantu (Leonardo), and Ayo Edebiri reprise their roles from Mutant Mayhem.