A fan animation brings Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin to the small screen in a thrilling adaptation of the hit series.
On July 1, the animation and film channel Speedokaggen, run by creator Magnus Edlund, debuted its fan-made adaptation of 2020's The Last Ronin. The short introduces viewers to the titular hero at the end of his rope, along with allusions to the tragedies he has suffered leading up to the series' devastating vision of the future.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin debuted in Oct., 2020. The story, crafted by Peter Laird, Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman, brought readers into a not-so-distant future lorded over by Oroku Hiroto, son of Karai and grandson of the Shredder himself. While the Foot Clan maintained their stranglehold over New York City, Michelangelo, the last surviving member of the Splinter Clan, journeyed across the world and back again before leaping back into the fray.
Eastman, who co-created the franchise with Laird, previously commented on the influence the series drew from Frank Miller's 1986 classic The Dark Knight Returns. Eastman said, "When Tom Waltz and I worked through the first 100 issues at IDW, the incredible turtle universe we built over there, we were looking like, 'Well, where do we go from here? I pulled out this story that Pete and I wrote, and I said, 'How about we do this? This is kind of like a Dark Knight Returns sort of final Turtles story, but the door's open to go other places depending on if people don't hate us after they see the ending."
Waltz has also opened up about writing a TMNT story after the tragic deaths of nearly every member of the Splinter Clan. He said, "When we first started, there were no 'ghost brothers' talking to [The Last Ronin]. But as Kevin and I began plotting in earnest, it really struck me that a TMNT story just feels wrong without the banter -- both loving and bickering -- between the four brothers."
Regarding the series' "To Be Continued..." ending and whether there are plans for a sequel to The Last Ronin, Waltz replied, "Oh… standby, sports fans. I can’t give specifics yet, but suffice to say, we are not done with what we are now lovingly calling 'The Ronin-verse.' Big announcements coming soon!"
Speedokaggen's TMNT: The Last Ronin Animation video is directed and produced by Edlund. VFX animation is done by Edlund, Robin Andersén and Kristian Howald. The vocal cast includes Andrej Kotevski Lindwall and Zac Clayton, while Lindwall and Max Ekberg serve as sound designers. Music comes from Jacob A. Cadmus, the original TMNT music by John DuPrez and La Cigale from PremiumBeat.
Source: YouTube