Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution #3!April O’Neil is one of the main characters in every iteration ofTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as her character has become a mainstay in the franchise that no version ofTMNTcan be without. Interestingly enough, that’s also true forthe next generation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who have just been introduced to theirversion of ‘April O’Neil’: an investigative reporter named Amanda Konnor.
InTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution#3 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Ben Bishop, and Esau and Isaac Escorza,the new Ninja Turtles (Yi, Uno, Moja, and Odyn)are in the middle of a battle between two warring gangs, led by their surrogate mother, Casey Marie Jones, and grandmother, April O’Neil. This battle quickly got out of hand, which turned the streets of New York into a deadly warzone. And, right in the middle of that warzone was Amanda Konnor, who was reporting live for Channel 6 News.
After suffering a minor injury, Amanda was knocked unconscious, and the Ninja Turtles quickly got her out of there upon making their own escape. The TMNT brought Amanda back to their home in the sewers, allowing her to rest on their living room sofa until she regained consciousness. When she did, Amanda absolutely freaked, as it’s not everyday one finds themselves surrounded by anthropomorphic turtles. However, Amanda collects herself remarkably quickly, and makes it clear that she will be the Turtles’ ally - and maybe even their friend.
Who Is Amanda Konnor? TMNT’s New ‘April O’Neil, Explained
Amanda Konnor’s Entire Backstory is Revealed in ThisTMNTComic
The reason Amanda Konnor is an immediate ally of the Turtles isn’t just because they saved her life, but because she has been taught her entire life that they are heroes - or, that their predecessors were. As a child, Amanda’s father told her stories of the original TMNT before the Foot Clan rose to power and effectively threw the worlds into a state of post-apocalyptic chaos. It’s as if Amanda grew up hearing about the heroic adventures of the TMNT just like real-world fans did, meaning she was predisposed to seeing the new mutant turtles as heroes, not monsters.
This familiarity with the Ninja Turtles makes the fact that Amanda has become friends with the new TMNT so quickly that much more believable, and even honors the legacy of the original. Plus, the parallels between Amanda and April are too obvious to ignore. Not only were they both introduced to the TMNT after they were saved by them (with a nearly identical scene depicting their official introductions), but they were both investigative reporters whose lives were in danger because of their line of work. In other words, Amanda was destined to fill April’s shoes, and now she officially has.
Amanda Konnor is the New April O’Neil, While April’s Daughter is the New Casey Jones
Casey Marie Jones has Filled the Role of Her Father inTMNTCanon
One might assume that, because April had a daughter, she would fill the role as the ‘new April O’Neil’ inTMNTcanon. However, right from the start of thisTMNTsequel series, it’s clear that Casey Marie Jones has actually filled the role of her late father, staying true to her namesake. Meanwhile, April O’Neil herself has become the leader of the new TMNT, akin to Master Shredder, but with a heightened focus on her scientific endeavors rather than martial arts teachings.
10 Dark TMNT Moments That Will Change the Way You See Its Iconic Heroes
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is famously a family-friendly franchise, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have dark moments. Here are 10 of the darkest!
With April becoming the new TMNT’s wise leader, and Casey filling the role of her father, there was a slot open in this narrative that still needed to be filled: that of the original April O’Neil. And now,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtleshas filled it with Amanda Konnor, and her story with this next-gen team of mutant ninjas is only just beginning.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution #3by IDW Publishing is available now.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) is a multi-media franchise that began with Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s comics in the 1980s. Throughout the years, their comic books expanded to movies, TV shows, video games, and toys. Most notably, the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ran for nearly a decade and has become a nostalgic staple of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Several other movies have featured the four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael), including the trilogy of live-action films in the ‘90s and the more recent movies Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
