When it first premiered in 2018, the latest incarnation in the Turtles series - Rise of
the TMNT - had a bit of an uphill battle, coming out when some fans were still mourning the loss
of the 2012 incarnation. That plus a style and tone change meant that not everyone had been
willing to give Rise a chance. However, with the new Netflix movie receiving many positive
reviews and some fans now being more willing to watch the rest of Rise, things seem to be
making a bit of a turnaround. One of the show’s former writers even said that, if the Netflix
movie were to do well, there’s a chance that this incarnation may make some sort of return!
With this in mind, we’re going to take a minute to look at all the possible directions that Rise
of the TMNT could go in, should it make a return. I’m Kifinosi from WickedBinge,
and these are Rise of the TMNT Sequel Ideas we Like and Dislike.
Starting with what could be argued to be the most unlikely idea,
the first come-back possibility we have focuses on finishing up
the ‘lost episodes’. For those not in the know, Rise of the TMNT was originally set to have a
standard 26-episode second season. At the last second, however, the season was cut in half,
forcing the team to speed things up and cut some arcs short. This included the Turtles’
training/bonding arc with their grandmother and matriarch of the Hamato clan, Karai.
Obviously this arc couldn’t be continued in a follow-up since Karai is, well, dead. Still,
many other scrapped ideas could easily be rewritten to fit in with a post-movie continuity.
Based on some of the tidbits various team writers and storyboarders have shared, we know that the
full season 2 of Rise would have had episodes that focused on furthering Baron Draxum’s redemption
arc, allowing him to bond with characters like Splinter and the other three turtles,
as well as fun singular adventures that didn’t tie into a particular arc but still could have
been fun. This would have included an episode where Mikey becomes the oldest brother after the
other turtles are turned into toddlers, an episode where Raph and Mikey crash Ghostbear’s wedding, an
episode where Donnie and April go after a yagababa after she turns one of April’s schoolmates into a
werewolf, an episode where Leo and Raph have to escape the island of dangerous dentist Dr. Noe,
and the return of Draxum’s gargoyles, Huginn and Muninn.
While a lot of these ideas seem like they’d be fun and interesting, we have to say that
we’re mixed on this possibility. Now don’t get us wrong, it’d be a shame for these ideas to stay on
Nickelodeon’s cutting-room floor forever. However, it’s extremely rare for cartoons to get a full new
season after being canceled. So, if Rise were to get another season instead of just a special or a
movie, we can’t imagine that the team would want to waste the opportunity on backtracking - and we
can’t say that we would blame them. The phrase “keep moving forward” comes to mind, and after
such an amazing movie, following up on all the things that happened in it seems like a must.
But like we said, only a few animated shows have gotten entire revival seasons
after being canceled. With a sequel or a special being much more likely,
any sort of come-back would need a big idea to match. Speaking of which-
Our next idea involves a storyline focused entirely on the Rat King. This idea actually
comes from a recent interview with Rise of the TMNT creators Andy Suriano and Ant
Ward, where they admit that if this incarnation were to get another chance,
they already have some ideas on how they can build onto the Rise-verse using this legacy
character. Though a bit of a joke in the original 1987 series, Rat King was a force to be reckoned
with in the 2012 series - and with how Rise has interpreted villains such as Shredder and Kraang,
we’re sure their Rat King would be just as interesting and unique.
Needless to say, we really like this idea! In addition to just being curious about what
Rise’s take on the Rat King would be, we have a feeling that any movie involving the Rat King
would have plenty of potential for drama. One of the most stand-out aspects of Rise of the TMNT
was Splinter’s character arc, seeing him grow into a true sensei as he came to accept not
only his tragic past and his mistakes but his mutation as well. But with Rat King on the loose,
Splinter would likely have to deal with his rat instincts taking over as he fought to
not be controlled by the villain - as we saw with 2012!Splinter. Very juicy and dramatic indeed! Add
in all the other suspense and adventure elements that could be added into a Rat King story,
as well as a possible fight between a controlled!Splinter and his sons,
and you’ve got a recipe for what could be a pretty great movie!
Moving onto some other ideas we have - it seems only natural that after you bring in the Kraang,
you open up the rest of TMNT’s outer space possibilities too. Really, it could be argued
that while Rise may have focused mostly on the mystic side of things, it’s got one foot in sci-fi
too thanks to the character of Jupiter Jim. But whether it's Jim taking the Turtles into space
or the Fugitoid coming down and roping them into an adventure, either way it wouldn’t be too out of
the blue for this series - with some fans perhaps even considering it to be a nice change of pace.
Obviously, when you’re talking about the TMNT in space, there’s only one other alien species
that comes to mind - the Triceratons. Big, tough and about as dangerous as the Kraang,
seeing our Rise boys go up against them could make for a pretty dramatic story - although
they’d potentially be at risk for repeating some of the beats from the 2012 series,
where the Triceratons also played a big part in the latter half of the show.
There would also be room to create original alien characters, which could also be fun to see.
However, as great as the Rise boys being in space would be, we have to be honest and say
that we would dislike this idea. As stated before, going up into space would perhaps feel far too
similar to 2012. One of the best things about Rise of the TMNT is how it stands out from the
other incarnations, and it’d be a shame if that stopped being the case for what could be its
final bow. Additionally, the show already has an entire underground world filled with yokai - many
of which are already pretty alien-looking - which we didn’t really get to see much of in this first
movie. As such, going up into space would feel somewhat unnecessary. Finally, for as much as
we enjoyed the epic stakes and wide scope of the Rise of the TMNT movie, too many action-focused
plots in a row could get tiring. For as amazing as Rise’s animation is, its character work is
just as amazing, so perhaps a follow-up would be better off focusing on a storyline that’s
more personal and grounded instead of being filled with sci-fi action and space shenanigans.
So if we’re sticking to Earth, what other baddies could be brought in for the Turtles to face?
Well, how about bringing in one of their most famous adversaries - Agent Bishop.
When asked about it before, Andy Suriano stated that 2003 was his favorite previous
incarnation of TMNT. If that’s the case, then we could see Suriano and his team
wanting to bring in and expand on what was argued to be one of the best elements from that series,
taking the opportunity to add their own Rise-style spin onto Bishop’s character.
Being shown in the 2003 series as someone who will do whatever it takes
to protect Earth - even if it meant hurting and even destroying mutants
and aliens - bringing in Bishop could also bring plenty of danger for the Rise boys.
At the end of the Netflix film, we see what is very likely the Earth Protection Force putting
the Kraang Commander’s sister into a van. We also see a man in sunglasses and a trenchcoat. Perhaps
this is Rise’s Agent Bishop? Even if it isn’t, the EPF has still technically been established
in the show’s universe, which means that the Rise of the TMNT creators would be able
to bring it and Bishop to the forefront without it feeling too out-of-nowhere.
We could already imagine a sort of plot where the Turtles have to sneak around
and be forced to think outside of the box in order to stop Bishop and his government-sanctioned team,
all while Bishop is using the Kraang invasion as a means to spread propaganda
as well as trying to hunt down other mutants and yokai for the sake of humanity.
In addition to the personal stakes a plot like this could bring, adding Bishop into the mix could
also make for some great drama - and even some great parallels - involving Draxum. After all,
Draxum was essentially Bishop’s yokai equivalent, wanting to retake the surface
and either mutate or destroy all humans in order to protect yokai-kind. If the two were to meet,
would Draxum try to use what Mikey and the others have taught him in the hopes of convincing Bishop
that he was making a huge mistake OR would Draxum start to revert back to his villainous ways
and try to start a full-on war with Bishop? Either possibility seems like it’d be interesting to us!
It should come to no one’s surprise that we absolutely love this idea.
After being shown through both the season 2 finale and the Netflix movie
how well Rise of the TMNT can handle character drama and high stakes,
we can’t imagine a movie with Bishop being the main threat being anything less than brilliant.
We would also love to see Draxum get a bit of spotlight again, since he didn’t get a cameo
or even a name-drop in the Netflix film despite being such a big part of the series.
For our final idea, we have a TMNT staple: the crossover. Both the 2003 and
2012 turtles had the chance to crossover with and meet the 1987 turtles. Heck, 2012 had the chance
to crossover with them twice! Unfortunately, Rise never got to that point - although there
was a fun joke about alternate universes in the season one episode “Pizza Pit”.
In that sense, why not take the opportunity to finally give Rise of the TMNT its crossover? If
anything, pairing the Rise boys up with the 1987 turtles seems like it’d be a match made in heaven!
Both shows (for the most part) lean into the goofier aspects of TMNT,
with both sets of turtles being unafraid to look silly or use improvised weapons.
We also feel that the personalities of the two sets of turtles would mix well,
with there being juuuust enough differences to keep things interesting.
However, if you wanted more of a clash than a crossover, instead of bringing in the 1987 turtles
again they could bring in the 2012 turtles! It would make sense, given how many 2012 writers,
storyboarders and even voice actors also ended up working on Rise of the TMNT.
With both shows being on Nickelodeon, they really are sister series. In addition,
all the differences that could be found between these two specific sets of turtles
could make for some really fun and interesting interactions - and we’ve got a feeling the two
Raphs and two Leos specifically would have a hard time getting along at first…
Seeing the turtles swap animation styles would also be really fun to see.
Honestly, the only downside about this idea is that Rise of the TMNT would essentially
be sharing its final bow with another series, which some Rise fans may see as unfair. However,
after such an action-packed and epic movie like the Netflix movie,
something more light-hearted could be the better option, just as a sort of breather/experimental
epilogue. So, while it may not be the perfect Rise send-off, we still
like the idea. Come on, who doesn’t enjoy a good crossover?
But let us know in the comment section if you agree with our ideas,
and tell us what we should cover next! Remember to hit that notification bell
and binge more of our videos. But most importantly, stay wicked!