Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Chapter is a 2025 film and the sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. It is the second film in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cinematic Universe, a revised version of the Michael Bay movies.
Synopsis[]
Plot details are inspired by the first draft of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem...
[The first draft was] completely different. Could not be more different. We've thrown away... we've made like eight versions of the movie to get to this version of the movie, and they're all radically different from each other. But the first version of the movie, they were in high school by like page 20, Shredder was a villain, Baxter Stockman was a villain. It was so different from what's there now. And it was just a long process of honing in on what we actually cared about as filmmakers.
Plot[]
The Turtles jump from rooftop to rooftop, skateboarding, eating pizza, flipping around their weapons. Raphael is on the sidewalk on a skateboard. As Donatello films, he jumps on the skateboard and the skateboard flies backward, hitting and breaking the window of a nearby convenience store. Raph tells Donnie to "go, go, go!"
The brothers save the world and are accepted by it, they start going to Laird High School, meeting April O'Neil and Casey Jones. April, a science geek, becomes good friends with Donatello, Donnie developing a crush on her. Casey, a kid with anger issues, becomes good friends with Raphael.
Leonardo's new science teacher, Mr. Stockman, teaches the kids about mutations, about how an animal can be mutated with toxic waste and how he is trying to develop a mutagen that can turn humans into mutants. When the Turtles get back home to the sewer lair, Splinter tells them their origin story.
"One day, eleven years ago, everything changed. We were covered in this ooze someone had dumped in the sewers. Whatever this ooze was, it transformed us. It was weird, but we became a family," Splinter tells the Turtles their origin.
As the Turtles watch the TV, Vernon Fenwick reports a series of crimes by the Foot Clan, stealing, assassination, robbery. Vern says that the crimes are allegedly committed by young teenagers. The Turtles decided to sneak out to fight this mysterious Foot Clan, April and Casey helping them along the way.
The brothers infiltrate a large spherical spaceship with a huge eyeball mounted on top, the Technodrome. As they get in the ship, they see groups of robots holding guns, walking through the hallway. No matter what the robots say, every sentence contains the word: KRANG. Michelangelo accidentally slips and falls, one robot seeing him. The robot's abdomen opens up revealing: a pink brain-like blob creature with gross gooey tentacles with two eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. It's name: KRANG. KRANG is about to kill Michelangelo with its laser gun when out pops Raphael who stabs the robot with his sai, the brain creature running away, shrieking.
The Turtles get to the entrance to the main room, but it is being guarded by two mutants: Bebop, a mutant warthog, and Rocksteady, a mutant rhinoceros. The Turtles approach the mutants. They are excited to find out that there are other mutants other than themselves. They greet Bebop and Rocksteady, Raphael befriends the two mutants, impressed by their immense strength. Bebop and Rocksteady call the brothers their cousins. More mutants pop up:
Stockman-Fly is a mutant fly and leader of the mutants. Leatherhead is a mutant Australian crocodile that loves her gun and shooting stuff with it. Slash is a mutant turtle with a dark past and anger issues. Mondo Gecko is a free-spirited mutant tokay gecko who hugs, skates and listens to metal music. Genghis Frog is a crazy mutant frog wielding a battle axe. Wingnut is a mutant bat, a superhero wannabe. Man Ray is a mutant manta ray who wants to be a singer, but sucks at singing.
The mutants all become friends but Stockman-Fly reveals his plan, to make the Shredder a super mutant and turn the whole city into mutants with a mutagen bomb. The Turtles are freaked out by Stockman-Fly, wanting to get out of there. Michelangelo accidentally says that they are friends with humans and Stockman-Fly turns on them. Stockman-Fly calls up the Shredder, who chases after the Turtles. The TMNT hit Shredder, who is knocked out. The Turtles retreat back to the sewer lair.
The brothers go to bed, talking about how they should defeat Shredder, or just stay away from him.
Stockman-Fly, back at the Technodrome, turns back into Mr. Stockman, Leonardo’s science teacher. Think of Stockman-Fly and Baxter Stockman as Bruce Banner and the Hulk.
The next day at school Mr Stockman teaches the students more about mutations and how he has finally developed the mutagen that effects humans, but did not find a way to control it. If you consume the mutagen, you are turned into the mutant an lose your memories of your human life, but then you revert back into a human. It’s like being a werewolf.
When the Turtles get home, the Turtle Lair is ransacked, with Splinter missing. Donatello figures that someone must’ve followed the turtles as they retreated back to the lair. So, the Turtles head back to the Technodrome.
At the Techndrome, the Shredder tries to get answers from a chained up Splinter, but Splinter won’t talk. The Shredder then slashes Splinter with his tekkō-kagi. The Shredder leaves. The Turtles defeat a bunch of Krang robots. Casey Jones and April O’Neil beat up a bunch of Foot Soldiers. The Turtles leave to save Splinter.
Tatsu, Shredder’s right hand man, leads a group of Foot Ninja to kill Casey Jones, who beats Tatsu with a golf club and convinces the Foot Soldiers that the Foot Clan is evil. Casey and April find Splinter, who is injured, but still awake.
The Turtles are in an elevator, Michelangelo beats to the dinging of the elevator and the rest of the turtles beatbox, a nice reference to the 2014 film.
The Turtles get off at the roof of the Technodrome. April calls Donatello on his T-phone, saying that they’ve found Splinter. Before he can tell the other turtles, the elevator explodes. The Shredder emerges from the smoke. The Turtles, one by one, begin to fight Shredder. When Shredder has his claws to Leonardo’s throat, he threatens to kill Leonardo if the rest of the turtles don’t throw their weapons away. The other turtles throw away their weapons, Michelangelo’s nunchaku fall on the floor when the rest of the brothers’ weapons fall of the building. Shredder tricked the turtles into throwing their weapons away, he’s about to kill Leonardo.
Suddenly, Splinter jumps from another building on top of the Technodrome, picks up Michelangelo’s nunchucks and fights the Shredder with them.
The mutants show up, fighting the Turtles. Mondo Gecko just skates around though. The Turtles convince the mutants, except Stockman-Fly, that setting off a mutagen bomb is wrong, and the mutants reluctantly turn on Stockman-Fly. They try not to hurt Stockman-Fly, so they turn their attention on the mutagen bomb.
The Shredder uses his Inoske’s Nichirin against Splinter’s nunchaku, immediately throwing the nunchaku out. Splinter gets his bow and arrow out but misses the Shredder, having no arrows left. Shredder is winning.
The mutants push Stockman-Fly into the mutagen bomb, the mutant fly getting stuck to the bomb. Stockman-Fly presses the button, initiating the bomb.
Splinter grabs his cane and pulls a sword out of it, blocking Shredder’s sword.
The bomb goes off, but doesn’t have an effect on the city, but on Stockman-Fly, who turns into Mega Mutant, a giant mutant fly mashed together with thousands of different zoo animals.
Splinter tells Shredder that he killed his master Yoshi and Shen, and Shredder remembers who Splinter is. Splinter is the reason his face is so deformed.
Mega Mutant destroys buildings, cars, bridges. Donatello takes a vile of retro-mutagen out of his pocket, explaining he was saving this for the Turtles to make them into humans, but Leonardo says they are already accepted. Donatello says that he just wanted to accept himself. Leonardo says that acceptance comes from within. It doesn’t matter what you look like.
Donatello flies over to Mega Mutant with his hoverboard. Donnie says “mutate this!”, before throwing the retro-mutagen into the gaping mouth of Mega Mutant. Mega Mutant turns back into Baxter Stockman.
Splinter sword fights Shredder finally cornering Shredder. Splinter puts his sword back into his cane. Splinter says to Shredder that death comes to us all, but he will not go to the afterlife, for he, Oroku Saki, will die without honor. Splinter hits Shredder with his cane and Shredder falls to his death.
The Hamato family rejoices after the death of the Shredder and imprisonment of Mr. Stockman, the brothers all saying things like excellent, booyakasha, and bosanova. Splinter says that he has always liked the word “cowabunga”, laughing because he “made a funny”.
Characters[]
- Young Dylan as Michelangelo
- Ego Nwodim as April O'Neil
- Walker Scobell as Raphael
- Hiroyuki Sanada as Oroku Saki/The Shredder
- Noah Jupe as Donatello
- Hero Hunter as Leonardo
- Jack Black as Bebop
- Chris Rock as Splinter
- Childish Gambino as Stockman-fly
- Lana Condor as Karai
- Dwayne Johnson as Rocksteady
- Keith David as Baxter Stockman
- Austin Kane as Casey Jones
- Isla Fisher as Leatherhead
- Brendan Fraser as Slash
- Adam Sandler as Krang
- Pauly Shore as Mondo Gecko
- Tracy Morgan as Genghis Frog
- Kristen Schaal as Wingnut
- The Weeknd as Man Ray