Social media erupted on Thursday with the release of first artwork and significant details for Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Nickelodeon's upcoming animated television reboot of the beloved 34-year-old property. Many longtime fans viewed the character designs, and significant changes to established canon, as an affront to the heroes they first discovered as children. These versions of Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo and Leonardo now wield different weapons (and powers?), play different roles, and simply look different than the Turtles of yesteryear. To their thinking, these aren't the Ninja Turtles, plain and simple. And here’s the thing: They aren’t.

RELATED: Ninja Turtles Get a Major Makeover in First Rise of the TMNT Image

Nostalgia sometimes places strange ideas into our minds, some good and some bad. But perhaps the most volatile side effect of reveling in the fiction from our youth, from our "glory days," is the notion of ownership. While there's no denying this new iteration Ninja Turtles is different, that doesn't mean Nickelodeon and its parent company Viacom (which purchased the property in 2009) haven't traveled back through time to smother your childhood. No matter whether you grew up reading Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s original comic books, became obsessed with the toys and related cartoon, or look back on seeing the 1991 live-action film in the theater as a life-changing event, this latest reimagining of the heroes in a half shell doesn't erase your memories, no matter which previous version you love.

raphael-tmnt-rooftop

Geek culture is plagued by that curious disconnect. We’ve seen it manifest in the most hostile manner with outrage inevitably generated any time a comic book company decides to place a character of a different ethnicity or gender in the familiar costume of a decades-old superhero (no matter how temporary that change is destined to be). And by now we've all seen the fiery think pieces declaring that, with The Last Jedi, director Rian Johnson has ruined Star Wars ... forever!

But those bursts of fury, which seldom have much consequence (The Last Jedi has earned $1.3 billion worldwide; that's billion, with a B), may only be the death cries of fading youth. And that’s OK. Sometimes, however, it’s better to let go of that thing you loved, or at least be willing to pass it down to a new generation.

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='The%20TMNT%20Franchise%20Has%20Already%20Suffered%20Worse%20Fates']



The Star Wars franchise has accomplished just that, which may prove to be the smartest decision Disney has made since it purchased Lucasfilm in 2012. Instead of paying fan service to fans who grew up with the original trilogy (or the divisive prequels), the entertainment giant decided to reshape the franchise for a new generation to discover. Disney has made it so kids have a chance to fall in love with Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren the same way so many of us fell in love with Luke, Leia, Han and Darth Vader.

Luke Skywalker and Rey in Star Wars: The Last Jedi

We’ve seen these types of revamps of characters in comic books for almost a century. The Superman who first graced the pages of Action Comics in the 1930s is not the same Man of Steel he is today. Characters change with their audience, and while not every incarnation has resonated with fans, the fact that creators are willing to adapt their creations to reflect the cultural climate is what makes them timeless. It’s not their costumes or their social status within their fictional universes, or the color of their skin or what gender they identify with. It all boils down to keeping the heart of what the characters stands for intact. Nothing else should matter.

RELATED: John Cena Joins Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Series

Jumping the gun and deriding a series, sight unseen, due to a small collection of images that don’t conjure up the youthful longing you once felt is foolish and downright immature. If Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turns out to be revolutionary for the franchise, fans will have to back peddle their knee-jerk reactions. And while criticism can certainly be healthy, arguing over the merits of change is futile. Progress and evolution of characters cannot be stopped. Trying to build obstructions through outrage, however, can be.

TMNT Blimp

The only real truth to these new versions of characters and intellectual properties is that they must be judged not by solely their aesthetics, but instead by their merits. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Turtles might just be your new favorite animated series, but the only way to honestly make that decision is to give is whirl once it comes out. Maybe it won’t be your cup of tea, but again, that's okay. Perhaps it isn’t designed and marketed for fans in their 30s. Maybe it’s designed for the children of those fans. And perhaps the quality of this new show will spark a new obsession that will have adult fans sharing the entries of the franchise they consumed so ravenously when they were kids hunkered down in front of a tube television on Saturday mornings.

At the very least, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Turtles has to be leaps and bounds better than the “Coming Out of Their Shells” Tour. Remember that? Yeesh. Can you image if Reddit was around in 1990? Then, maybe fans would actually have something to be upset about.


Premiering in 2018, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stars Omar Miller as Raphael, Ben Schwartz as Leonardo, Josh Brener as Donatello, Brandon Mychal Smith as Michelangelo, Kat Graham as April O'Neil, Eric Bauza as Master Splinter, and John Cena as Baron Draxum.