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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is releasing in theaters everywhere August 2nd, 2023. With this newer, younger, iteration of the Turtles comes a huge cast of classic mutants and adversaries! Most are familiar or even popular, but why not revisit their histories and get a refresher on who they are. Our subject today…Leatherhead!
A Fan Favorite Returns
One of the most intimidating and imposing figures in TMNT history and fan favorite due to his iconic appearances in the 1987 animated series and subsequent video games like The Manhattan Project and Turtles in Time. In almost all iterations of the Turtles, Leatherhead’s origins are the same: An alligator comes into contact with mutagen and changes into a bipedal humanoid alligator. Through the years there has been nuance and small changes to Leatherhead‘s character, not to mention a massive change coming in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem this summer.
Mirage Comics Leatherheads First Appearance
In the original Mirage Comics run Leatherhead first appeared in Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6 in 1988 as a baby alligator that escaped during a pet store robbery, made his way into the sewers, and was abducted by Utroms where, you guessed it, he was exposed to mutagen. Eventually he is separated from his “family” of Utroms and is forced to survive in the sewers of New York.
Leatherhead is soon hunted by a big game hunter named Jack Marlin. In one of many of their confrontations, Leatherhead meets the Turtles who decide to aid their new alligator ally and give him a place to stay. But soon Leatherhead decides to find his Utrom family and builds the tech necessary to travel to their home world, a task in which Leatherhead accepts help from the Foot Clan. When the Turtles intervene against The Foot, the machine backfires, throwing Leatherhead into a fit of rage in which he kills 2 foot clan members and vows revenge on the Turtles, believing they wrecked his attempt to get home.
1987 Animated Series
There’s no doubt that Leatherheads most iconic appearance comes from the 1987 animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Shredder set out to create new mutants to fight the Turtles, but an accident during transportation causes a mutagen spill in the Florida Everglades. This causes the creation of the Punk Frogs as well as the alligator Leatherhead.
Leatherhead hunted the Punk Frogs to New York where the had been taken by The Shredder. In the sewers of New York, Leatherhead found much more interesting game in the way of the Turtles, but he was constantly at arms with the Rat King who also wanted the Turtles. They would soon call a truce and join forces against the Turtles and even go as far as working for The Shredder. This version of Leatherhead brings us the Cajun accent, voiced by the legend himself Jim Cummings, and the look that often comes to mind when we think of Leatherhead.
2003 Animated Series
In 2003 Leatherhead returns to his comic origins as a pet alligator in the sewers, adopted by the Utroms. This iteration of Leatherhead however has the brains to match the brawn. Leatherhead is depicted as having the same intelligence level as Donatello.
This version of Leatherhead lived among the Utroms as an equal until an attack by The Shredder. Now homeless, Leatherhead is befriended by Baxter Stockman, who helps Leatherhead build a new device to return to the Utrom homeworld.
He eventually meets and befriends Michelangelo and in the process learns that Stockman is an ally to The Shredder. This causes Leatherhead to attack Stockman and in the ensuing battle, Leatherhead gives his life to save his new turtle friends. He actually survives the battle and makes several more appearances as an ally to the Turtles.
2012 Nickelodeon Series
In 2012, Leatherhead’s origins are similar, but circumstances are different. A baby alligator flushed into the sewers by parents is discovered by the Kraang is taken to their dimension, is mutated, and then tortured and experimented on. He eventually escapes to the sewers of New York where he is befriended by the always lovable and kind Michelangelo.
This Leatherhead is violent and short tempered due to a lifetime of abuse, but is always willing to help the Turtles in their fight against the Kraang and The Shredder.
In a climatic battle against the Kraang, Leatherhead once again sacrifices himself to save his friends and is transported back to Dimension X, home of the Kraang. He would eventually return older as a member of The Mighty Mutanimals and aid Splinter against Shredder and The Foot, as well as battle against the Kraang’s invasion of Earth.
Mutant Mayhem: Leatherheads New Mutation
That’s a lot of Leatherheads, a lot of origin stories, and a few variations on the character. On August 2, 2023 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem will introduce Leatherhead to a new generation of fans in a whole new different way.
Leatherhead will be a female…and from what we can tell, Australian. Rose Byrne, no stranger to Seth Rogen films, will voice the character and bring a “down under” appeal. In what seems like an homage to the 1987 animated version, it looks as though Leatherhead will be sort of “bushman” or a hunter and tracker.
Whether this version of Leatherhead was once a pet alligator or not remains to be seen. I’m excited and optimistic that with the writing of Seth Rogen and the talent of Rose Byrne, the new version of Leatherhead will be a great addition to the franchise!
