At last: A dark, gritty Ninja Turtles movie from the guy who produced Black Adam

You could make an argument that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are in as good a position, right now, as they have been all century; the release of last year’s genuinely fun animated film Mutant Mayhem, and its Nickelodeon follow-up, seem to have primed a whole new generation to hook themselves up to Turtle Power. So, obviously, what the franchise needs right now is a super-dark cinematic offering where most of the Ninja Turtles have been murdered, as overseen by the guy “responsible” for one of the most boring runs of superhero films in recent memory. Right?

All of which is to say that THR reports this week that Walter Hamada—destined to go down in entertainment history as the functional placeholder forced to try to put a happy face on the near-complete collapse of Warner Bros.’ DC Extended Universe, after the studio broke ranks with Zack Snyder during the filming of Justice League—is working with Paramount on an adaptation of 2020 Ninja Turtles comic book The Last Ronin. A.k.a., “The One Where All But One Of The Ninja Turtles Are Dead.”

Now, to be fair, The Last Ronin—written by original Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman, with Tom Waltz—has been pretty well received in Turtles fandom over the last few years, telling a surprisingly heartfelt and dark story about grief. It follows a sole surviving turtle—whose identity is obscured for the early portions of the story, as he wields his dead brothers’ weapons in battle, and wears a black eye-mask—as he attempts to avenge his family’s deaths.

And, sure, that’s basically just Old Man Logan but with amphibians, but fans have enjoyed its efforts to inject some genuine pathos into Turtles lore. But it’s still going to be a very weird shift for a franchise that’s been building back up its rep as light, silly fun over the last few years, and it’s coming from a guy whose reputation is basically “The guy forced to try to tell you Black Adam is going to be great.” Paramount has tapped Tyler Burton Smith, who wrote the 2019 Child’s Play reboot, to pen the script