There’s been a shakeup of the movie calendar for Paramount Pictures, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans aren’t going to be too thrilled. Paramount Pictures has announced that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2 has been delayed (via Variety), moving its release from the original date of October 9th, 2026, to September 17th, 2027. No reason was given for the delay of the film, and it was one of two major delays across Paramount’s 2026 slate. That said, Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie was revealed to have an earlier release date than expected, moving to July 24th, 2026.

Paramount has already released the Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series on Paramount+, which is supposed to bridge the gap between the original Mutant Mayhem and its sequel. So far, season 1 has been released, and it is supposed to receive a second season at some point in the future. Given the new 2027 release date, perhaps late this year might be the best place to release that, or even early next year, though if it receives a third season, you could have a Turtles release each year leading into Mutant Mayhem 2’s release.

Not much is known about the sequel as of yet, but there are a few details that have been discussed. Mutant Mayhem director and writer Jeff Rowe discussed a few elements of the sequel with Collider, and he describes it as a villain-forward film while also comparing Shredder to villains like the Joker.

“That is exactly what I am trying to figure out and what my next meeting will be about,” Rowe said. “That is what we are in the thick of now. Shredder is just a great character. He’s an iconic, classic, loved character. He’s like the Joker. You know who he is, even if you’re not a fan of the source material. I think we definitely wanna do a villain-forward film. We’re currently trying to make decisions about that, but those decisions for us as filmmakers are always going to come from the place of what tells the best story, specifically about our main characters, the Turtles.”

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Meanwhile, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman revealed several characters from the franchise he hopes to see in the sequel in an interview with ComicBook, including some of Shredder’s key villainous allies. “Through the experience of the Nickelodeon 2012 animated series, which just wonderfully brought in some original concepts from the original cartoon series to all the elements, the Tricetons had such a big role in there. So we’ve been lucky enough to experience this in so many ways and so many opportunities. I look forward to seeing where the sequels to Mutant Mayhem are going to go; not just the series, but the next movie because, you know, you’ve got Casey Jones waiting in the wings. You’ve got Krang out there, and you’ve got the Rock Soldiers and Neutrinos. So I’m, I’m pretty pumped.”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is now available on Paramount+, and Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is also available now on Paramount+.

What do you hope to see most in the Mutant Mayhem sequel? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and animation with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!