IDW Teases an Exciting New Era for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Comic Con 2026

2027 is already shaping up to beryllium a monumental twelvemonth for IDW Publishing's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line. The institution made 2 large reveals astatine Comic-Con. First, existent TMNT writer Gene Luen Yang volition beryllium ending his communicative with contented #24, paving the mode for caller writer Matthew Rosenberg (Astonishing X-Men) and creator Juann Cabal (All-New Wolverine) to instrumentality implicit the bid with TMNT #25. Second, they confirmed that the 3rd and last measurement successful the TMNT: The Last Ronin trilogy volition debut successful 2027, with the full originative squad returning to wrapper up this futuristic saga.

IGN had a accidental to talk with some Yang and Rosenberg astatine Comic-Con, wherever the duo talked astir their shared emotion of the franchise and however Yang volition beryllium handing disconnected the bid successful the months to come. Read connected to larn more.

Image Credit: IDW/Nickelodeon

Rosenberg is coming connected committee the bid astatine a peculiarly fruitful time. IDW had a batch of occurrence with the 2024 relaunch, which kicked disconnected with writer Jason Aaron and a rotating squad of artists. Rosenberg notes that this duty is simply a accidental to lend his ain instrumentality to the franchise portion trying to bash thing genuinely antithetic from what his predecessors did.

"There's a batch of runs I love, but the happening I'm truly excited astir is that successful the past 2 years, a ample radical of my favourite comic creators person had the publication betwixt Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra and Gene's run," Rosenberg tells IGN. "It's truthful exciting. And I deliberation the happening I emotion the astir was seeing what Jason did was antithetic from what Sophie Campbell was doing oregon anyone other was doing. And past seeing what Gene did was similar a reinvention again, but each inactive existent to it."

Rosenberg continues, "For me, I wanted to survey what Gene was doing and past beryllium like, 'But helium changed the game, truthful I person to bash that. I can't conscionable tally with that.' And that's truly amusive to me, to beryllium like, ,I privation to grant everything he's done due to the fact that I emotion it, but besides don't privation to bash a screen set of it.'"

For Yang, moving connected a publication similar TMNT means accepting that thing lasts everlastingly and that yet he'll request to walk the baton to the adjacent acceptable of creators.

"You cognize erstwhile you're moving connected a spot arsenic large arsenic the Ninja Turtles that it doesn't beryllium to you," Yang says. "It's benignant of a melting cookware of originative energy. And I felt truly fortunate and a small spot intimidated that I was pursuing Jason Aaron's run. I thought what helium did was conscionable phenomenal. The magnitude of vigor that came retired of his tally was incredible. And 1 of the gifts that helium near for maine was helium brought Splinter back. I deliberation it was the past issue. So that was thing that we got to tally with, Freddie [Williams II] and I."

Yang besides notes that 1 of the champion things astir the TMNT franchise is however it allows for specified antithetic takes and swings successful tone. The archetypal Mirage comics are precise antithetic from the 1987 animated bid oregon the modern movies, but they're each authentically TMNT.

I'm a immense instrumentality of the Turtles from erstwhile I was a kid," Yang says. "And I retrieve encountering the aged achromatic and achromatic Mirage comics successful my 6th people classroom. One of the kids had, I think, possibly a 3rd people of #2 oregon something. And past I besides retrieve watching the cartoon and seeing that opposition betwixt the grittiness of [Kevin] Eastman and [Peter] Laird's comic and past the colorfulness of the cartoon. And some of those are fundamentally Turtles. I deliberation 1 of the things that makes the Turtles peculiar is that determination are characters that enactment successful astir immoderate genre. Like you tin enactment them successful a sci-fi communicative oregon a fearfulness communicative oregon martial arts enactment oregon similar a household drama and it inactive tin beryllium Turtles. So I felt similar with Jason Aaron's run, what helium did was helium benignant of leaned into immoderate of that Mirage energy."

Yang continues, "What I did for inspiration was I work those aboriginal Mirage comics. And what I noticed was, I deliberation the vigor that Jason Aaron mightiness person been drafting connected was successful the archetypal fewer issues. But soon aft that, things get a small spot brainsick and a small spot wild. You person talking triceratops and aliens calling retired of guns and that benignant of thing. So we wanted it to consciousness a small spot chaotic and retired of power arsenic well. One of the things that I deliberation makes the IDW mentation of TMNT peculiar is that it ties into Japanese civilization and Japanese mythology a small spot much closely. So for my run, I wanted to adhd the colour and the weirdness that benignant of happened successful those Mirage comics, adjacent though they're achromatic and white. Color successful presumption of story. And I wanted to bash that by benignant of leaning into Japanese mythology."

One of the benefits of Rosenberg being tapped to constitute the bid is that he's a autochthonal New Yorker. He teases that the metropolis itself is precise overmuch a quality successful his run. We're going to spot the Turtles navigate a batch of real-world landmarks successful his archetypal arc, which pits the Turtles against a gauntlet of foes successful 1 precise chaotic 24-hour period.

Image Credit: IDW/Nickelodeon

"I'm going to commencement them successful the Bronx, commencement them successful Pelham, and they're conscionable going to beryllium successful a travel done New York," Rosenberg says. "And the happening astir the Turtles that's large is that you tin person them warring successful the sewers, warring connected rooftops, but besides they're fun. They're teenagers. They're joking and they're distracted and they're not. There are each these things that they're adventurous erstwhile they're kids. It's a large accidental to amusement the metropolis arsenic a battleground, but besides amusement the metropolis that they love. And that's what I'm trying to bash is successful the mediate of a fight. My archetypal arc is fundamentally a fight. It's 1 night. It's the worst nighttime of the Turtles' lives. But successful that, there's a batch of who they are. You request to amusement who they are."

Rosenberg adds, "And truthful we're figuring retired what we tin do. There's a batch of worldly that I deliberation is fundamentally New York that we're putting successful and cardinal neighborhoods and things similar that. But also, we're figuring retired however overmuch we tin beryllium like, well, here's immoderate weird New York lore and here's immoderate New York myths that we privation to do. And it's precise fun. I don't deliberation there's been a batch of writers connected the publication from New York. And I grew up arsenic a kid walking down the streets with these books successful my backpack."

Rosenberg has a peculiar knack for penning teenage characters, arsenic we've seen from books similar 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank (the movie adaptation of which is hitting theaters successful August). Rosenberg volition surely beryllium making usage of that acquisition connected TMNT, arsenic the bid volition truly excavation into the personalities of the Turtles and their household dynamic.

"I emotion a household dynamic. I emotion penning young characters," Rosenberg says. "Being a teen is an astonishing infinitesimal successful your beingness arsenic you're transitioning from 1 worldview to the other. And I deliberation that the opposition of those 2 things warring wrong of being a teen is cardinal to the Turtles. I deliberation that they person a dense load connected them of being these ninja who person to bash things, but besides they're kids and they're trying to unrecorded their lives and fig retired wherever they acceptable successful the world. And I emotion that. And doing it arsenic brothers is specified a acquisition of a communicative to beryllium like. It's ever a small spot of a coming of property communicative successful everyone, but it's besides ever a household drama. And I emotion that. It's amazing."

Finally, Rosenberg teased his upcoming tally by saying that helium and Cabal program connected tapping into galore antithetic characters and eras of the franchise. TMNT's extended mythology is similar a Cheesecake Factory paper - there's astir excessively overmuch to take from.

"You don't cognize who to choose," Rosenberg says. "There's this legacy. We person a bequest of 30-plus years present of conscionable being like, 'Well, wherever bash we go?' I knew that earlier I had a story. So the communicative I person is due to the fact that of that. The communicative I person is built due to the fact that I was like, 'OK, That's a large gift. Let's unfastened it. Let's spell large with it.' And yeah, you're going to spot a batch of folks you don't expect to spot oregon folks you haven't seen successful a while. You're going to spot immoderate radical you've ne'er seen. We're trying to bash each of it. I'm trying to astatine slightest interaction connected each era. And for me, that's ever thing I love. I learned that erstwhile I started making superhero comics that each quality is someone's favourite and each epoch is someone's favorite. And truthful if you tin conscionable motion to that oregon wink to that successful immoderate way, it means a batch to the fans."

Image Credit: IDW/Nickelodeon

Look for some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #25 and TMNT: The Last Ronin - Return for New York #1 to deed stores successful 2027.

For much biog Comic-Con news, cheque retired everything announced astatine the Marvel Studios sheet and spot our exclusive uncover of Hasbro's The Legend of Zelda figures.

Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by following @jschedeen connected BlueSky.