Was April O'Neil From 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Originally Black?



Was April O’Neil originally Black? The question of the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ character’s race goes back way further than our current culture war.
» Sign up for our newsletter KnowThis to get the biggest stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox: https://go.nowth.is/knowthis_youtube
» Subscribe to NowThis: http://go.nowth.is/News_Subscribe

For more film and entertainment news, subscribe to @NowThisNews.

#TMNT #ninjaturtles #entertainment #Politics #News #NowThis

Connect with NowThis
» Like us on Facebook: http://go.nowth.is/News_Facebook
» Tweet us on Twitter: http://go.nowth.is/News_Twitter
» Follow us on Instagram: http://go.nowth.is/News_Instagram
» Find us on Snapchat Discover: http://go.nowth.is/News_Snapchat

NowThis is your premier news outlet providing you with all the videos you need to stay up to date on all the latest in trending news. From entertainment to politics, to viral videos and breaking news stories, we’re delivering all you need to know straight to your social feeds. We live where you live.

http://www.youtube.com/nowthisnews
@nowthisnews

source

35 thoughts on “Was April O'Neil From 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Originally Black?”

  1. I grew and love TMNT. No one cares about skin color. But, no sane parent wants their kids watching anything "Woke". I really hope that this new film isn't tainted. But, seeing that kid hating Woke Weed Monster Seth Rogen is behind this film is very disturbing.

    Reply
  2. If I’m not mistaken she is supposed to be mixed Asian and African American. I was around reading comic book at that time but she’s been different versions with different writers and illustrators. So like everything else it’s threw the illustrators eye the April we get!

    Reply
  3. Not just Race,Why is she now fat, all girls who want to represent as her now didn't like it

    The first TMNT comic is all Black & White like Manga's in Japan & her shadow tone around her skin makes you assumed she's black

    Reply
  4. They do be hating gingers at hollywood.
    As long as she stays the risk taker not backing from danger to find the best story.

    The last clips I saw gave us the rapheal we want, but not the Donatello or April from the early movies..

    Reply
  5. No, no she wasn’t. The creators came out and dispelled this myth. The issue with images was an inking issue. April was never black except during a run of alternate universe stories. She’s white.

    Reply
  6. it's both funny and annoying that people keeping asking if she was black.. she wasn't according to the comic creators.. wish they'd stop race swapping characters for their forced diversity checklist and also stop getting rid of redhead characters.. April is a red headed white girl.. deal with it twitter and hollywood

    Reply
  7. i think it's safe to say she's always been portrayed as racially ambiguous; she was never envisioned or created as one race or another, thus meaning that her race can be anything, and ultimately, her being black in the new movie doesn't matter. White, biracial, black, asian- April is April.

    Reply
  8. People don't seem to care which is good but I kinda care because it seems like another ginger oc has been black washed. Let's not forget gingers are a minority character. Do writers hate white gingers?

    Reply
  9. Look I’m not saying there aren’t any racist people who are upset by this but to say the majority are racist cry baby gate keepers is gaslighting. Probably could have left out the aggression and still made a valid video talking about the arguments over it with in the fandom, cuz this video was informative.

    Reply
  10. I just need to say this, the whole gender-swapping and racial changing in my opinion has been done to death that it just doesn't feel unique anymore, look I'm okay with a black Nick fury and gender bender Ancient One, but when you do that over and over again, again doesn't feel unique, like for instance in the Titan live action show I always saw Starfire as Hispanic not black, and if I mean truly honest I think Ariel would have been perfect as Caribbean I don't know if that's the right word, more than being black, my biggest problem is gender-bending Casey Jones in the new teenage mutant Ninja turtles show, I would have been okay if she ended up with April part of a lgbtq thing, but as far as I heard that didn't happen, so why bother two gender bend him at all? When I'm trying to say is that you should try different races to swap them with, and don't genderbend someone if it had no meaning to it.

    Reply
  11. Back when Rise was first announced and April’s design was unveiled, I figured that the myth of her being black in the Mirage comics would have gotten squashed when the blogger TMNT Entity did their deep dive on this topic. But that appears to not be the case due to the topic reigniting when the cast for this film was announced.

    Like the VO, I too don't care about what her current iteration is, just like with Rise. What urks me is the discourse this has created with chuds whining and the woke scolds playing white knight by perpetuating the myth.

    Although, it is worth mentioning that she was black in the first edition of issue #32 during the guest era, but that was a noncanonical story by Mark Bodè.

    I personally would love to see April as an Asian at some point.

    Reply
  12. Its a double standard, i remember back when tropic thunder came out. If you want to change a character make a new one. You can't have a female Thor just as much as you can't have a white black panther. And for f sake i dont think there are many black people with the name O'Neal.

    Reply

Leave a Comment