Posted in: Comics, IDW | Tagged: kevin eastman, Last Ronin, teenage mutant ninja turtles, tmnt

Kevin Eastman Writes TMNT: Last Ronin Prequel & Threequel

Kevin Eastman Writes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Last Ronin Prequel, Training Day as well as the Threequel, Last Ronin III

Published Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:31:08 -0600

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

Kevin Eastman returns to write Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Last Ronin prequel, Training Day, for 2026.
Training Day bridges the gap between Last Ronin series issues 3 and 4, exploring Michelangelo and Casey Marie.
TMNT: Last Ronin universe expands with sequels, prequels, and new turtles like Odyn, Moja, Uno, and Yi.
Story reveals how Casey Marie Jones becomes a hero, filling in key moments before Last Ronin III arrives.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Last Ronin was the far-off story of the last Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as conceived by TMNT creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird long ago, with the last surviving Turtle, Michelangelo. Then it got a sequel. And will get a threequel. And a novelisation. Which means that a prequel must be next. And so it is, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Last Ronin: Training Day by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, the Escorza Brothers and Ben Bishop, colourist Luis Antonio Delgado, and letterer Shawn Lee, for July 2026, as shown off by EW.

The Last Ronin: The Lost Years from 2022 was a bit of a prequel, about Michelangelo's transformation into the Last Ronin, but was also a sequel with a new group of Turtles, Odyn, Moja, Uno, and Yi, tutored by sensei Casey Marie Jones, the daughter of Casey Jones and April O'Neil. The Last Ronin II — Re-Evolution in 2024 was a proper sequel with the new Turtles and concluded with (spoilers) the death of April. We will get The Last Ronin III but Training Day will fit in between the publishing schedules.

"While we were going through what he called the Roninverse, there were so many back alleys and stories and things that we couldn't fit into the 200 pages that we had. One of the ones was just having Michelangelo spend time with Casey Marie Jones. He could see the spark and he could see the light and he could see the beauty in what Casey Marie Jones felt and wanted to believe in. He wanted to lean into Splinter's journal of what he trained and what he learned from that, and directing towards this protector of the city thing, which the Turtles originally grew into." – Kevin Eastman

"It's kind of funny to call it a prequel because it sits between issues 3 and 4 of the original series. In a way, this is a love letter to fans, but it's also, I would say, a conversation we're having with fans because the Roninverse just continues to expand beyond anything we expected. So in legal terms, I guess I'd call Training Day an addendum. Why is Casey Marie Jones wearing that costume with the mask? How did that come about suddenly? Those are things that now we can answer," he adds. "But I like this idea that, if there's a threat, the threat's not gonna wait for you. You have to meet the threat. This shows Michelangelo acknowledging that and saying to himself, 'I'm gonna be this person's teacher. I better teach her as quickly as I can.'" – Tom Waltz

"There was just a hunger to see more of Mikey and Casey and a hunger to see more of what was at stake in the first issue. As we're building up to the big Arc 3, we felt like there needed to be something before that where we check in, remind readers where this came from, and what this means." – IDW Senior Group Editor Jake Thomas

Waltz took his daughter into a Barnes & Noble the other day and found Funko Pops of the new Turtles they created for The Last Ronin in the graphic novel section. "That could've blown up in all our faces. People could've just absolutely hated them, and it's been the opposite.

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