Crossovers and collaborations have become a major trend in the world of entertainment. Though video games have been crossing over with one another for decades, cross-IP collaborations have become much more prominent in recent years, and are on a bigger scale than ever before.Fortnitehas hosted over 250 crossoversin the last 8 years, andCall of Dutyseems to be trying its best to catch up.
Over the last five years or so,Call of Dutyhas crossed over with a range of different entertainment IPs, mostly with major movie and TV franchises. 2025 has already brought two bigCall of Dutycrossovers, and its most recent one has broken new ground for the military shooter series, paving the way for a whole host of left field collaborations.
Call of Duty’s TMNT Crossover Sets a New Precedent
TMNT Was Call of Duty’s Wildest Crossover Yet
There have been some pretty bizarre crossovers inCall of Duty’s recent history, but the vast majority have fit the series' generally realistic military aesthetic. There have, of course, been outliers – likeDonnie Darko’s Frank the RabbitandSaw’s Billy – but generally speaking, most collab Operator skins fitCall of Duty’s grounded visual design.
ButCall of Duty’s recentTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtlescollaboration pushes the boundaries further than they’ve ever gone before. Inspired by the Ninja Turtles' original 1980s cartoon,Call of Duty’sTMNTOperator skinsare pretty out-there, at least when compared to past collab skins. Though the Turtles have been given a darker color scheme and some realistic character model features like additional facial wrinkles and muscle definition, they’re still four human-sized bipedal turtles, wearing colorful masks and wielding ninja weaponry. Naturally, they stand out quite a bit when stood next toCall of Duty’s otherwise human-filled roster of Operators.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were accompanied toCall of Dutyby a member of the Foot Clan, whose colorful purple design was also ripped right out of the 1980s cartoon. But by far the most unconventional skin of the bunch was Master Splinter, the final reward for thepremium Event Pass. Much like the Turtles, Splinter was given a realistic makeover, and again, like the Turtles, it didn’t change the fact that he’s a 6-foot-tall anthropomorphic rat, running around the warzone with an assault rifle and quarterstaff.
No Collaboration Seems Off-Limits for Call of Duty
Now that giant turtles and rats are running aroundCall of Duty’s maps, it feels as though there’s no reason to limitCall of Duty’s crossovers anymore.Call of Dutyshould now be free to collaborate with any franchise it wants, regardless of whether its aesthetic would be deemed a natural fit for the military shooter series.
For years, fans have been asking forCall of Dutyto cross over withMarvel, DC, and other popular superhero franchises. BeforeTMNT, those collabs seemed unlikely as the brighter superhero costumes and larger-than-life personas might not have fitCoD’s darker aesthetic. But now, there’s no reason why they wouldn’t fit the series' visual tone. The designs would just need to be toned down slightly from their comic book counterparts, bringing them more in line withCall of Duty’sThe BoysOperator skins.
