This week Paramount has announced a whole selection of programming, both for film and television, over on Paramount+'s Twitter. Specifically, Paramount+ seems to be expanding its offerings of kids and family programming with a new slate of movies and series. One thing to look forward to from Nickelodeon Studios is a series of films centered on the villains of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles world made exclusively for Paramount+ coming in 2023.
While a theatrical Ninja Turtles movie from Seth Rogen set to be released in 2023 has been known for a while, the announcement of "villain-driven" movies is brand-new. It is currently unknown if these movies will take place in the same universe as Rogen's, what villains will be featured, or even how many films there will be. All that was announced in the press release was that Nickelodeon Animation would be making "a series of exclusive movies for Paramount+ beginning in 2023, each centering on one of the property's storied villains in never-before-told tales." Despite the limited details, this is enough to get TMNT fans excited. The Ninja Turtles have a deep rogue's gallery with a lot of potential for fun movies.
There, of course, could be a film focused on the evil Shredder — probably the most recognizable enemy of the turtles. Shredder is the leader of the evil Foot Clan, an organization of ninjas that the turtles often find themselves fighting. Shredder is the classic bad guy, showing up in just about every movie, show, and video game featuring the Ninja Turtles. They could focus on Bebop and Rocksteady, a genetically mutated warthog and rhinoceros often seen working with Shredder and fighting the turtles. The pair were created for the 80s cartoon and quickly became fan-favorite villains, even appearing in live-action in 2016's TMNT: Out of the Shadows. There is also Krang, an evil alien that looks like a weird brain monster. The films could also focus on any of the obscure and lesser-known villains that have appeared in countless tv shows, movies, video games, and comic books over the years. All there is now for fans to do is wait and see.
While the announcement of Paramount's growing slate of family programing was made to the public on Twitter, it was first officially announced by Brian Robbins, the chief content officer of movies and kids and family for Paramount+, during a ViacomCBS Investors Event held on Tuesday. About the growing focus on family programming, Robbins said:
“As we’ve known with Nickelodeon’s long-standing success, the kids and family audience is incredibly loyal, and we see that on Paramount+ as well, with kids and family ranking as one of the strongest genres on the service in terms of both engagement and subscriber acquisition. So, as they stay for our shows and look for even more of them, we’re doubling down on giving them what they want by expanding the universes of the characters they love the best.”
This seemingly confirms that while these villain-centric movies will be aimed at kids, they should also be enjoyable for adult fans of the franchise and will expand on that universe.
There is not much else to say on these upcoming films, so check out the announcement tweet below and stay tuned to Collider for future updates.