Would you like to see the TMNT crossover with the X-Men?
 

As someone who has only gotten into the X-Men within the last few years... I'm rather surprised there's never been a crossover between the TMNT and the X-Men. I know they belong to different companies and all, but we've had TMNT x Batman crossover comics in the last 13 years or so, despite Batman belonging to DC/Warner. I haven't read any of those, but I don't see how a Batman x TMNT crossover could work well. The characters are all quite different in term of background, goals and personality and they live in different cities.

Meanwhile, the X-Men live in an Institute somewhere in New York, the same state as the Turtles and they all have issues being accepted by society as mutants. Feels like it would be natural for the Turtles and the X-Men to meet and become friends, no? Granted being a mutant in the X-Men series implies having super powers while mutants in TMNT are basically just anthropomorphic animals. But a good writer could make the crossover work, I feel.

Which brings us to another question: What if Eastman and Laird had sold TMNT to Marvel back in the early 90s? Wasn't Marvel one of the two companies that tried to acquire TMNT back in the height of Turtlemania? If the TMNT belonged to Marvel, then I suppose we'd have had the TMNT crossing over with the X-Men. In the worst case scenario, the TMNT would have had become extended characters of the X-Men and lose their status as an independent property...

I'm sure the X-men comics had a role in the creation of the Turtles. They were created by Kirby and we know Eastman and Laird loved him.

Donatello = Beast
Leonardo = Cyclops
Raphael = Wolverine
Michelangelo = ?
Splinter = Charles Xavier

And, of course, they are all mutants.

Well, technically the Turtles don't qualify as Mutants according to the Marvel criteria.

Mikey would definitely be Nightcrawler.

Mirage dedicated one chapter to Kirby where Donatello interacts with him, in fact.

TMNT was originally a parody of the superhero comic genre, wasn't it?

Yes, it's all about the X-gene. But that criteria seems flawed. Spider-Man has superpowers, but he's not a mutant because he wasn't born with the X-gene and only got his powers as a teenager when a radioactive spider bit his arm? What?

What about all those other Marvel characters with superpowers outside of the X-Men? How is society able to tell them apart from actual mutants? lol

I guess they should live on different Earths. Mutants are rare on the Turtles' Earth, but much more common in the X-Men Universe.

Talking about Nightcrawler, could his feet and his hands be a direct inspiration for Eastman and Laird designing the Turtles?

I am more DC guy, but any crossover witb the turtles I would be down for. I haven’t read much X Men, but i have always enjoyed them and the 90s cartoon. I think if done right it would be awesome

No
No
No

I think the problem is that no one would agree what version of TMNT the X-Men should crossover with and it has probably been too long. Mirage would have been great, but "too niche" they'd say. Fred Wolf would have been too silly and dumb. IDW... maybe? But then who cares?

No. It wasn't.

Hum, I wouldn't assume that.

Any? Literally any?

I could have sworn I've seen people say that on these forums throughout the years. I guess that's how rumours and misinformation spreads...

It is really even more pervasive than the black April misnomer spread across the internet. But I asked both Laird and Eastman both (and have receipts) and no, not a parody.

I mean, that ONE issue with the Justice Force in Vol. 1. THAT is probably an intended parody of the superhero genre. Before the years later when Laird brought those guys back and warmed to them and took them more seriously.

Don't get me started on the "black April" crap, ugh.

I barely remember the Justice Force in Mirage anymore. Their inclusion in the 2k3 cartoon got a bit silly at times, especially when they were called upon to fight off the Triceraton invasion of Earth.

Mirage TMNT with Daredevil would be great.

Fred Wolf with the Fantastic Four would be interesting a variety of ways.

The only real pairing with the X-men would be some story-thread about being "society's hero-outcasts" or something like that. But even more than that, the X-Men roster is HUGE. The Turtles got more out of crossing over with He-Man's huge roster which worked because it framed it as "The Turtles in Eternia" more than the "Turtles with a hand picked team of X-men".

I dunno. Maybe if it was an X-Men story with Mojo and his world as the villain teaming up with Krang or something.

Well, I didn't mean to include every single X-Man, obviously. Let's say, the following:

- Wolverine
- Cyclops
- Jean Grey
- Nightcrawler
- Beast
- Shadowcat
- Rogue
- Gambit
- Xavier

Maybe you can add Iceman too.

Andrew mentioned what version of the TMNT would cross over with the X-Men. The X-Men also has a few different versions. While the 2k3 TMNT cartoon was airing, you had X-Men: Evolution. A cartoon where many of the X-Men were teenagers attending HS. I think those two versions could have mixed well. Funny enough, Gambit was not a member of the X-Men in that version. He was a member of the Acolytes alongside Colossus, Sabretooth and Pyro. Magneto's personal team of mutants.

Come to think of the "thing" that is happening, would anyone accept the Doom Patrol or the Outsiders as a substitute?

I would have said Wildcats and Gen13 too but then I realised that had already happened.

If Street Fighter can be on the same Earth as the X-Men, then I don't see why the TMNT cannot as well.

I have crossover fatigue, period.

Way too many have happened in the last 16 years or so?

It would've been. But even if they did it now it wouldn't really work. "Mirage is too niche," etc., plus their shared origin with Daredevil wouldn't even really work anymore with it happening to the Turtles in the 70s and it happening "15 years ago" to Daredevil or whatever it would be now in 2026. Unless you just gloss over it with a brush and pretend that was 15 years ago from the present for the Mirage TMNT, too.

Earth Humans (at least some) in Street Fighter can throw fireballs so those universes (Marvel and Street Fighter) have more in common.