Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was met with critical acclaim upon its release in 2023, making it unsurprising when Paramount Pictures greenlit a sequel in early 2024. While we’re still two years away from seeing what’s in store for Mutant Mayhem 2, the good news is these versions of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael have appearances set on the 2025 movies schedule before it ends. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 – Lost in New Jersey will be attached to The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants in a few weeks, and Kent Seki, the director of the short film, shared with CinemaBlend why one of the Turtles’ more obscure villains was selected for this story.
Without going into spoilers, Chrome Alone 2 sees the Turtles going to New Jersey after seeing a commercial advertising the Tubular Tortoise Karate Warriors, i.e. knockoff toys based off them. Upon arriving at the Authentic Imitations Toy Company headquarters in Newark, they run into the robot known as Chrome Dome, voiced by The Office’s Zach Woods. Chrome Dome certainly isn’t on the same popularity level as TMNT baddies like Shredder and Krang, so when I asked Seki why he was a good fit for this short film, he answered:
I think he's a good fit partly because he is obscure, because a lot of people haven't invested a lot into that character and don't bring their background or their personal baggage with it. I think it was 1987 [that Chrome Dome] was designed and made in the cartoon series. It allowed us to modernize him and his personality in a way that would fit with the times today. And it was Andrew Joustra, the screenwriter's idea to make it Chrome Dome. I think Andrew Joustra is a super Turtles fan, so you can always count on the authenticity from Andrew.
Chrome Dome was introduced in Season 5 of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series as a robotic member of the Foot Clan, and he was later depicted in a few episodes of the 2012 animated series (both of which can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription). So a lot of people will be learning about this villain for the first time when they watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 – Lost in New Jersey, but as Kent Seki told me, this worked to the creative team’s advantage since it gave them more freedom to tweak him as they saw fit and not worry about how TMNT fans would react. While Chrome Dome’s “in-person” look hasn’t been revealed yet, this is how he’s presented in the toy commercial mentioned earlier from a Chrome Alone 2 clip released in October.
Again, I’m not going to spill any details about what happens when Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael cross paths with Zach Woods’ Chrome Dome. However, Seki also said this to me during the interview when I inquired about the one aspect he’s most proud of in this short film:
I think the design of Chromeome is pretty spectacular. That was Woodrow White, who is the character designer from Mutant Mayhem. He came in and designed our Chrome Dome, which is influenced by Radu Molasar from The Keep, Michael Mann's 1983 film, as well as TARS from Interstellar, and the original Chrome Dome design from the 1987 cartoon. And finally, that Patrick Nagle reference in the face using vector graphics like from the arcade games Asteroids or Tempest. I think having all of that combined creates this unique and iconic robot.
The director added that Zach Woods is “unbelievably funny” in the role, so perhaps Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 – Lost in New Jersey will actually end up becoming the most recognized version of the character. That doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that we’ll see him in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2. After all, the first movie set the stage for Shredder, the Turtles’ arch-nemesis, to enter the picture.
In any case, check out Chrome Alone 2 on the big screen once The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants comes out on December 19. Mutant Mayhem 2 will follow on September 17, 2027, and it was also announced earlier this week that the new live-action TMNT reboot is set for release on November 17, 2028.
