Mutant Turtles Want To Be Like Sonic Now

We share a quick update on Thomas’s recovery, then dive into a packed slate: Starfighter’s composer choice, a record-breaking Superman sale, a TMNT strategy reset, Henson’s milestone auction, a graphic history expansion, and Zootopia 2’s box office run. Big themes: how music defines new stories, how IP pivots, and how fan culture preserves its past.

• Thomas’s health update and production schedule
• Thomas Newman to score Starfighter post–Rise Of Skywalker
• What a clean 9.0 Superman #1 sale signals for collectors
• Paramount’s live-action TMNT pivot and project reshuffle
• Revolutionary War trilogy adapted into graphic editions
• Jim Henson archive auction highlights and preservation debate
• Zootopia 2’s record-setting global opening and worldbuilding questions
• Closing notes on where franchises succeed and stumble

If you've gotten some value out of the show, you know, do you think I'm funny, I guess, and would like to pay it back, head on over to multiverse tonight.com where you'll find our Patreon and Kofi links, check our show notes, visit our tea public store, and so much more

Chapters

• 0:00 Opening And Host Update
• 1:30 Starfighter Chooses Thomas Newman
• 3:00 What We Know About Starfighter
• 4:10 Record Sale Of Superman #1
• 6:15 Paramount’s New TMNT Strategy
• 9:30 Canceled And Paused Turtles Projects
• 12:00 Revolutionary War Graphic Adaptations
• 13:30 Jim Henson Archive Auction Highlights
• 15:30 Zootopia 2’s Record-Breaking Weekend

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:02

Tonight, Starfighter finds its composer, a pricey comic book, new meeting turtle projects, and Zootopia tops the box office. All then more on this brief edition of Multiverse Tonight. Welcome to Multiverse Tonight, your source for geek news. We dissect films, games, comics, and much more, bringing you entitled commentary on Opology. This is Multiverse Tonight. Now here's your host, Thomas Townley. Hello and welcome to episode 253 of Multiverse Tonight. I'm of course your host, Thomas Townley. And it's the first of December. And there's really not much news to talk about. Right now, I'm a few days away from getting the hard cast off my right foot. After that, it'll be put into a walking boot. So I'll be that much closer to uh getting back on my feet. I can tell you the times that I accidentally put pressure on that foot, it hurts. So yeah, this is you know, this might be a long project to get get back to walking again, but I still have my scooter. You know, hopefully it'll let me back to work this month. If not, I I gotta wait till like next month to do it. We'll see. But anyway, since uh we have a short show, let's get into it with the Star Wars news. Roger, Roger. The score is of course a vital component of every Star Wars film. And the composer for Sean Levy's new moat movie Starfighter has just been announced. Thomas Newman, the 15-time Oscar nominee with credits ranging from Revenge of the Nerds to Skyfall, will be scoring the film, which is slayed for release on May 28th, 2027. Now, Levy shared the news of Newman's involvement during an appearance on the On Film with Kevin McCarthy podcast, calling him, quote, a maestro, unquote. He also clarified that Newman's score would not merely recycle John Williams' classic Star Wars elite motifs, although he did note that, like Williams Williams, Newman doesn't shy away from themes. Newman's extensive four-decade career includes scoring a diverse film filmography such as the Shoss Shoshink Redemption, The Green Mile, Road to Perdition, Finding Nemo, The Help, and 1917. He's also been recognized with an Emmy for his six feet under theme music and five Grammy Awards. Newman is recognized for his compositional experimentation, often incorporating unusual instruments and nature sounds. His most recent work is featured in the Netflix movie The Thursday Murder Club. Star Wars composers be now uh the most celebrated Star Wars composer will remain, of course, John Williams, who scored the original trilogy, returned for the prequels, and then composed the sequels after that. Now, Starfight Star Wars Starfighter is still not a lot known. It's been kept under wraps, but as confirmed, the film will not feature any recurring characters or plot lines from previous Star Wars installments. The story will be set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. The film is being written by John Trapper and is set to star Ryan Gosling, Amy Adams, Matt Smith, Magoth, Aaron Pierre, and Flynn Gray. Again, Star Wars Starfighter scheduled for release in theaters on May 28th, 2027. Let's go to the DC News. That would be the first the issue that first introduced Superman. Now, before that, the record had been held by another copy of Superman No. 1, which sold for$5.3 million back in 2022. In 2021, a copy of Amazing Fantasy No. 15, the debut of Spider-Man from 1962, sold for 3.6 million. Now, experts in the rare comic book world attribute the high price to the comic's exceptional quality and unique history, despite a general cooling of the comic book market that has been seen, and some of the prices falling by a third or more. The 86-year-old comic received a remarkable grade of 9.0 out of 10 from the Certified Guarantee Company, the leading third-party grading service. Now, the comic's compelling backstory, often referred to as its attic pedigree, further enhanced its value. It was found by three brothers in a box of old newspaper clippings in the attic of their late mother's house. The mother had purchased the comic along with several others as a nine-year-old growing up in depression era San Francisco. Although she occasionally insisted to her c her sons that she had rare comics somewhere, she could never recall where, which led the boys to dismiss it as, you know, maybe fanciful thinking. The discovery was made earlier this year after the mother passed away just before the pandemic, and the house remained untouched until the brothers were ready to go through its contents. You know, I would love to find a rare comic like that, but those are pretty much few and far between. So I guess we'll just have to go on to the geek news. And has entered into negotiations with veteran producer Neil H. Moritz, known for the Fast and Furious and Sonic the Hedgehog franchises, to lead the effort. Now, uh Toby Asher from Moritz's original films banner will also produce. This move comes as a Skydance-owned studio who is revaluing its content and existing intellectual property. Unlike some other properties, Paramount fully owns the TMNT brand, having acquired it from co-creator Peter Laird back in 2009, and aims to fully exploit its potential. Paramount is reportedly seeking to Sonicy the TMNT franchise, drawing inspiration from the successful billion-dollar Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise, which was produced by Maritz, and which appeals to a broad all-ages audience with its live-action CG hybrid format. As one insider noted, quote, if you want Sonic, you go to the guy who did Sonic, unquote. Now, the last action film, Teenage Major Turtles Out of the Shadows, back in mid-2010s, underperformed, leading the studio to shift focus to animation. The animated film, Teenage Major Turtles Meeting Mayhem, in 2023, was a commercial success, and its sequel produced by Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg and directed by Jeff Rowe, is still scheduled for release on September 17th, 2027. However, the new studio direction has led to changes in other TMNT projects. Teenage Major Tur Teen Tales of the Teenage Meteor Turtles, anime's spin-off of Meet and Mayhem, was canceled midway through production this fall, with the reason given to the staff being, quote, this is not the vision the owners want, unquote. Now showrunner Christopher Yost confirmed the cancellation, though noted the final episodes are the best episode yet. The last Ronin, also uh in production, The Last Ronin, an R-rated live-action CG hybrid project with Illa Neisler, uh, reportedly in Talks to the Direct, has been shelled for now. The new regime, Plant prefers to launch the first non-animated TMNT movie in a decade with a bloody adult skewing story, though the door is open for a possible revisit later. In related TMNT news, the franchise is also getting a new creative team with American-born Chinese creator Jen Jean Luin King and artist Freed Freddie E. Williams II on it. So uh more new Mutant Ninja Turtles in live action. You know? Do we really need that? That's a question. Yeah, that's a good question. I know, I know they wanna uh they say it's the the the all the only franchise they own. It's like why am I you guys own Star Trek? Do more Star Trek. Good Star Trek, that is, I should say. Anyway, more news. Prize-winning military historian Rick Atkinson, a self-described comic book fan in his youth, initially doubted his own work would be adapted into an illustrated format. However, Ten Speed Graphic announced on Tuesday that a graphic edition of The British Are Coming, the first volume of Atkinson's acclaimed Revolutionary War trilogy, will be released next June, just before the country's 250th anniversary. Five additional graphic books are planned. The adaptation will be written by Nor News and illustrated by Frederico Pretrabon, with Atkinson closely involved in the process. Now Atkinson, who won a Pulser Prize for his World War II book, An Army at Dawn, has spent a decade on his Revolutionary War trilogy. The second volume, The Fate of the Day, was published this past spring, and he is currently working on the final book. Recognized as one of the best living military historians, he was also a featured commentary in Ken Byrne's The American Revolution documentary and has made numerous joint appearances with the filmmaker. A recent auction featuring iconic props and personal items from beloved Jim Hansen projects, like the Muppets and The Dark Crystal, achieved a remarkable total sale of$2.6 million. Now, this event, hosted by the Jim Hanson Company in partnership with Julian's Auctions, offered a rare four were offered over 400 rare screen-used puppets and artifacts directly from the company's archives to the public for the first time. The auction included a diverse range of items appealing to fans across Hanson's career. Notable sales include the Fraggle Rock characters Uncle Traveling Matt and Gillis Fraggle, each fetching$64,000. Miss Peggy's Lavender Heels from the Great Muppet Keeper selling for$22,400. The top item, the screen-used full-size crystal of truth from Netflix's The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance, went for a whopping$70,000. Other unique pieces include a pocket watch from Labyrinth and prints created by Jim Henson in the 1950s. While prop auctions are common, this specific sale was unique because it came directly from the Jim Henson Company's archives as part of its 70th anniversary. This unprecedented move, the first of its kind in the company's seven-decade history, sparked a debate among fans about whether these one-of-a-kind items, some handcrafted by Henson himself, like a prop map from Muppet Treasure Island or the Glig Puppets from his Saturday Night Live Work, be it belong in public hands or museums. Now, company CEO Lisa Henson, Jim Henson's daughter, addressed these concerns in an interview with the New York Times. She explained that the company maintains museum partnerships and viewed the auction, which conclude on November 25th, as a way to, quote, find touch points where fans could connect with the company, unquote, for the 70th anniversary. Now, despite the sale of several significant props, the Jim Henson's company collection and archives still hold thousands of items, ensuring that ample materials remain to preserve Henson's legacy and educate the public for years to come. And finally, tonight, Zootopia 2 reclaimed the Disney box office dominance this Thanksgiving, breaking numerous records both domestically and internationally. Here's a summary of some of the record-breaking performance. Now, it got the highest global anime opening of all time with 556 million surpassing China's Nijia 2, which had 431.22 million. The fourth highest global opening of all time, behind only the Avengers Endgame, and Avengers Infinity War and Spider-Man The Way Home. Disney now holds three of the top four spots. Highest global debut of 2025. The highest sequel record, the highest global opening for an animated sequel ever beating Moana 2. Disney holds the top five spots in that category. It's a studio record as well, highest global opening ever for Walt Disney Animation Studios, surpassing Moana 2. The biggest opening weekend increase from original to sequel for any animated franchise, 239%. The number one movie globally, domestically, internationally for the weekend. Domestically, Zootopia 2 holds the second highest spot in several key Thanksgiving box office metrics, with all records set by Moana 2. Thanksgiving Day gross after Moana 2's 225.4 million. Thanksgiving Opening Day weekend for three day and five-day. Black Friday gross 38.5 million. Wednesday before Thanksgiving gross, preview gross from a WDAS sequel. Third highest three-day domestic opening in WDAS history. The Disney Disney Domus. Disney now controls nine of the top 10 and top 8 overall Thanksgiving opening weekends of all time. Also did well in China and overseas as well. And it got in single day, it got ninth highest single-day gross for date the fourth day. And the highest MPA opening in 2025. And the list goes on and on and on and on. The highest opening for stars, Jennifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman, both besting Zootopia's$75.75 million domestic opening. The high opening for Oscar winner Ki Hu Kwan, surpassing Kung Fu Panda 4. And so, you know, basically the Zootopia 2 ran away with all the money. Well here's the question. If we had an animated series, we'd you know get backstory on the world and how things work. Like what exactly do the predators eat? I mean what is there for for them to eat? Are the fish as sentient as well? Are the bugs? It's one of those movies that if you look real close at the world, you're going, this doesn't make sense. You know, here. So you have to kind of, you know, put on some blangers and go with it. Anyway, that brings us to the end of our show for today. Now uh please be sure to check us out on social media. We're on blue sky and twitter at uh blue sky at uh multiverse tom at we're on blue sky and twitter at multiverse tom, threads, Facebook, and Instagram as well at multiverse tonight. If you've gotten some value out of the show, you know, do you think I'm funny, I guess, and would like to pay it back, head on over to multiverse tonight.com where you'll find our Patreon and Kofi links, check our show notes, visit our tea public store, and so much more. Now, uh, if you'd like to leave some feedback as well, that'd be great. If this is your first time listening, thank you very much and welcome. Now go ahead and hit that subscribe button and share us with others. Now, thanks to Hot Dope for the intro music and Lobo Loco for the outro theme music. Thanks for watching this edition of Multiverse Tonight. Uh, we'll be back in two weeks with more sci-fi and comic book news. Now, please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. Copyright 2025. All right.