The TMNT movie spin-off show is inspired by Superbad and honors the original comics in a unique way

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Exclusive: Executive producer Chris Yost talks to Total Film about the upcoming TMNT spin-off series

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
(Image credit: Paramount+)

Back in 2023, Paramount announced a spin-off series to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem that would see the heroes in half-shell return for Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Paramount Plus.

Now, as executive producer Chris Yost tells Total Film in our new issue out on Thursday, July 19, which features Alien: Romulus on the cover, there is a surprise inspiration for the upcoming summer show.

"I watched a lot of Superbad, really, more or less, to get the voice," says Yost of the 2007 teen comedy classic, starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera. "We watched the movie over and over."

Picking up where Mutant Mayhem left off, after Superfly buzzed his way through a trail of destruction in New York, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are framed as the comic-book doodlings of Leonardo, harking back to the Turtles’ roots as comic-book characters precisely 40 years ago.

"We always try to honour the comics, because that’s where it all came from," says Yost. "Forty years later, here we are, telling these stories."

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

(Image credit: Paramount+)

In an exclusive image, which you can see above, the four turtles are all seen in a flurry of explosions and chaos, fittingly saving the day.

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles streams on Paramount Plus from August 10. And you can read more about it and a whole lot else besides in the new issue of Total Film when it hits shelves and digital newsstands on Thursday, July 19.

Check out the covers below:

The xenomorph on the cover of Total Film's Alien: Romulus issue

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios/Disney)

Pre-order the issue here to bag your copy or click here to subscribe to Total Film and never miss another exclusive. You’ll get every issue before it's in stores and you’ll get subscriber-exclusive covers. 

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(Image credit: Total Film/20th Century Studios/Disney/Marvel Studios/Warner Bros/Prime Video/Universal)
Matt Maytum
Matt Maytum

Matt Maytum is the former Editor of Total Film magazine. Over the past decade, Matt has worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.