The Star Trek Crossover Long Past Due Is Right There For Paramount
Live long and cowabunga. Imagine Mr. Spock saying this to Michaelangelo as his hand slowly changes from the Vulcan greeting to a thumbs up. Really close your eyes and imagine it. Good. Now tell me, why has no one at Paramount suggested a Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover yet?
They’re Both At Paramount
I’m not kidding. Star Trek has crossed over with the X-Men (thrice), Legion of Super-Heroes, Doctor Who, and even the Transformers.
Meanwhile, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have crossed over with Batman on both the page and screen. A meeting between the two franchises would not be that weird.
Certainly no weirder than Captain Kirk fighting alongside a 20ft sentient robot car.
And unlike all of the above intercompany crossovers, Star Trek and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are both owned by the same parent company.
Paramount could put the project into development today if they wanted to. Frankly, I’m kind of shocked they haven’t done so already.
Teaching Spock To Lighten Up
It’s not like I picked two completely random IPs and decided to combine them for no reason. Star Trek and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would fit together better than you might think. Especially if the project used the original series crew.
Picture it: some kind of anomaly results in the Turtles being transported to the Enterprise. Mr. Spock is forced to subdue an angry and confused Raphael with a Vulcan nerve pinch.
Later, the Vulcan teaches Raph how to better control his emotions. Spock, in turn, learns from Michaelangelo how to relax and let his inner party dude come out.
Engineering And Fencing
Meanwhile, Leonardo learns some important leadership lessons from Kirk about when to listen to the rest of his team, while an excited Donatello helps Scotty build some kind of McGuffin. This crossover practically writes itself.
And, of course, Leo and Sulu would have a duel. They’d pretty much have to, even if it’s just a friendly sparring match. You can’t have a meeting between Star Trek and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and not have the two franchise’s resident swordsmen fight at least once.
There Have Been Star Trek/TMNT Crossovers Already… Kind Of
It’s not like I’m the first person with this idea, either. In the ’90s, Playmates released a line of TMNT figures dressed as classic Star Trek characters. They flubbed the line-up, of course—how is Donatello, not Scotty?—but the toys are still cool.
More obscure but no less cool was the appearance of DS9‘s USS Defiant in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. It wasn’t an official crossover between the two franchises, but it was a fun Easter Egg nonetheless.
My proposal for this crossover would be either a comic book miniseries or an animated film for Paramount+—or even both. I mean, it worked for the Batman crossover. Either way, drawing the original series crew is really the only way they can appear in a Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles project and still appear in their prime.
Why Not?
An animated movie in the style of the Star Trek animated series would be amazing, but I don’t want to dream too big. An IDW comic book would work, too. The way they handled the TMNT/Ghostbusters team-ups gives me confidence that they would nail a Star Trek X Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles book.
Ultimately, There’s no reason for Paramount not to combine two of its most popular IPs unless the company is afraid of profits. Not to sound anti-monkey or anything, but someone thought Star Trek/Planet of the Apes was lucrative enough to make. Star Trek/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would be a license to print money by comparison.
Live Long and Cowabunga!
