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I pretty much feel the same.
They'll still be selling TMNT-branded products many years from now, just like some companies still sell products based on Dick Tracy or The Shadow or Green Hornet or Flash Gordon. But are those properties "popular" or "relevant" in any significant way, anymore? Absolutely not, that's not even a conversation. They only exist to say "Hey, remember this? It existed!" And that's all they ever will be. That's TMNT's future as well, 100%.
I definitely think some company will still be selling TMNT action figures and statues in 50-60 years (and that most or all of those products will be based on FW and nothing else). But that's going to be 100% of TMNT's existence or "relevance".
It's never going to be 1989 again. It's not even going to be 2003 again. It's never even going to come close.
That isn't "doomsaying", it's just plain paying attention and refusing to live in Make-Believe Land. TMNT isn't incredibly popular, hasn't been for ages, and it would take nothing short of a legit miracle to ever make it so again.
But they'll still be selling "Cowabunga!"-branded trinkets and Christmas tree ornaments several decades from now, just like they do with Charlie Brown or Garfield even though nobody's given a sh*t about that stuff for decades, either. So, I mean, there's that.
You just have to be realistic about these kinds of things, that's all.
Also? Unpopular Opinion Theater time, but it needs to be said: A major thing holding TMNT back from being truly "evergreen" the way stuff like Batman is, is that objectively, on its face, the entire TMNT concept is by far one of the all-time DUMBEST things to ever become a billion-dollar franchise. I say that "with love", but c'mon, let's just be real. If you tried to explain even the basics of TMNT to someone who had no idea what it was, it sounds like the lunatic ramblings of some ADHD-riddled pre-schooler.
Something so inherently stupid - no matter how "charming" - automatically has a limited shelf-life. It is absolutely one of those things people 100 years from now are going to look back on and say "Jesus, those people were stupid back then", like bell bottoms and pet rocks. It's a premise that certainly can be executed in a way so that it's NOT dumb, but it is, inherently, a dumb premise that requires a TON of delicate handling to present in a way that isn't stupid.
And before someone even tries to argue that "It's no more 'dumb' of a concept than a guy dressing up like a bat to go punch out criminals"... yes it is, by ten miles. Don't start.
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