Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the latest series produced by Nickelodeon to star the Ninja Turtles. The new series will have 26 episodes and is co-executive produced by Andy Suriano (Samurai Jack) and Ant Ward (TMNT). The series will be directed by longtime voice actor Rob Paulsen, who voiced Donatello in the previous series and voiced Raphael in the original series before that.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles follows Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo on all-new adventures as they seek to unlock the mystical secrets of New York City. From the tallest skyscraper to the dankest sewer drain, the Turtles will encounter absurd new mutants and battle bizarre creatures all while enjoying their favorite slice of pizza. Tapping into mystic, ninja powers they never knew existed, the four brothers must learn to work together and navigate the perils of the modern age and hidden realms in order to fulfill their destiny to become a team of heroes.

This time, each of the turtles will be a different species. Raphael, is a snapping turtle, Leonardo is a red eared slider (hence the red markings on his face) and Michelangelo is a box shell turtle. Donatello is a soft shell turtle, but makes up for it by creating a series of wearable ‘battle shells’. This iteration will have the hot-headed Raphael be the leader of the team! However, it is unclear just how hot-headed he will be this time. 

Also, April O'Neill will be a young black woman. The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic series was black and white, and co-creator Kevin Eastman has mentioned in the past that the character was originally supposed to be African-American, but you just couldn't tell thanks to the book's black and white nature. So that's fun!

The voice cast includes Omar Miller (Ballers) as Raphael, Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) as Leonardo, Josh Brener (Silicon Valley) as Donatello, Brandon Mychal Smith (You’re The Worst) as Michelangelo and Kat Graham (The Vampire Diaries) as April O’Neil. 

There are no release date details yet, except that it will premiere later in the year!  The last iteration of the Turtles was probably my personal favourite so far, however, I'm very excited to see what's in store for us with this next one! It looks different but hopefully that will just keep things fun and fresh!