Assembling a cast of smart, clever, and funny performers to play a diverse collection of weirdos in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, director Jeff Rowe gave his actors a lot of freedom in the recording studio – even going as far as to simply record natural conversation between the four stars voicing the titular heroes. When it came to Ice Cube’s performance as Superfly, however, there was a bit of a snag. Apparently, the former N.W.A. member would express such a deep knowledge of hip hop that it threatened to raise the film’s bill for legal clearances.
Ice Cube’s time in the booth making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem came up in conversation earlier this month when I had the chance to interview Jeff Rowe at San Diego Comic-Con 2023. Given that there is a scene in the new animated movie where Superfly has the line “Six in the mornin’, police at my door” (a line from Ice T’s “6 In The Mornin’), I asked about the movie’s meta sensibilities, and Rowe explained how O'Shea Jackson Sr.’s special expertise played into his recording sessions:
That was just Ice Cube. We'd be like, 'Can you try improving something here?' And then he would say a song lyric and we'd be like, 'That's great! You're running up the bill on the film for legal clearances.’ But has such a deep knowledge of hip hop and its history, and just like had so many things that he was able to recall so quickly. It was a delight to watch.
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Ice Cube’s Superfly is the central antagonist and established as a criminal scourge plaguing New York City. As the Turtles are maturing and figuring out how mutants can co-exist with humanity, Superfly has a different perspective, as he has ambitions to wipe out the human race and create a world dominated by mutantkind. And evidently, the villain is very into hip hop.
Similar to the humor of Ice Cube quoting an Ice T lyric, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem also has another fun meta moment involving Jackie Chan… though Jeff Rowe also says that it’s more coincidence than anything. In the film, the action movie legend voices the paternal mutant rat Splinter, who trains the Turtles in martial arts – and the way he goes about it is by showing them footage from action movies, including the work of Jackie Chan. Smiling, Rowe told me,
Those are like accidental. I mean, we weren't... like before we cast Jackie Chan, we were like, 'We should make the fight sequences choreograph like Jackie Chan fights,' and then we cast Jackie Chan and we're like, 'This is perfect!'
Already earning a warm reception from critics, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem arrives in theaters this Wednesday, August 2 – and you can get a preview of what to expect with our spoiler-free CinemaBlend review. It has the vibes of Spider-Verse, the spirit of Stand By Me, and a stellar cast including Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon, Seth Rogen, John Cena, Ayo Edebiri, Hannibal Burress, Rose Byrne, Paul Rudd, and more.
