The Secret Connection Between Marvel and ‘Ninja Turtles’

You might know that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles started life as a tiny indie comic book in the 1980s. You might know they were created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, and that their very first issues were published in black and white by Mirage Comics. But what you might not realize is that Eastman and Laird were heavily inspired in creating the Ninja Turtles by Marvel Comics — and especially the work of writer/artist Frank Miller (who later created Sin City and The Dark Knight Returns) on Marvel’s Daredevil.

In our latest video, we’ll show you how Daredevil directly influenced certain aspects of the Ninja Turtles comic book origin, as well as core elements of their mythology like the Shredder, Splinter, and the Foot Clan. (The ninjas in Daredevil comics are known as “The Hand.”) We’ll also explain why a Marvel/Ninja Turtles crossover is not as outlandish as you might think. Watch the video below:

If you liked that video on the surprising connections between Marvel (and especially Daredevil) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, check out more of our videos below, including a whole bunch of trivia you might not know about the Ninja Turtles, our look at why Batman is the most popular comic book hero ever, and who to expect on the next team of MCU Avengers. Plus, there’s tons more videos over at ScreenCrush’s YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe to catch all our future episodes. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem opens in theaters on August 2; you can read our review of the movie here.