There are many iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles productions, from animated TV series to live-action films, video games, and comic books. However, one of the most acclaimed is The Last Ronin, which ran as a graphic novel series between 2020 and 2022.
It was a significantly darker and, in many ways, more tragic story, in which three of the shell-wearing heroes in the pizza-loving ninja crew are murdered, leading to a violent tale of revenge with a slightly older cast of characters. The Last Ronin received excellent reviews and sold very well, and we know that a game based on this story is in the works. A film adaptation was also underway, but as we reported a few months ago, it was shelved in favour of more family-friendly projects.
But perhaps there is still hope. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the series' creators Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz (Peter Laird was also involved) say that they don't believe The Last Ronin film adaptation has been completely scrapped, but only put on hold and they believe that the project will eventually become a reality:
"I don't think the movie's off the table. I think it's just delayed. Speaking with all the folks at Viacom and Paramount and Nickelodeon who love the Turtles and really have done a fantastic job, whether it be the 2012 series to Mutant Mayhem, I don't think it will not happen."
Eastman later went on to explain in the interview that he hasn't lost hope, saying outright that he believes the movie will happen after all:
"I think it will happen. One of the things that anybody I've talked to at the companies, they know the fans love and support all things Last Ronin, as much as another group of fans love everything Point Grey [Pictures, production company], Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and everybody has done with the whole Mutant Mayhem series. We're not disheartened at all."
With that said, we can only wait and hope that Eastman is ultimately proven right.