Part 2/12:
It all started when a TMNT fan shared fan art, depicting the classic turtle characters in a style reminiscent of Spider-Verse, with intentional gender swaps and racial modifications. Notably, three of the turtles appeared Black in this fan rendition, while Leonardo was depicted as white. The accompanying tweet questioned, perhaps sarcastically, “Aren’t they canonically Black?” This prompted a wave of reactions—some supportive, many outraged—dive-bombing into the ideological depths of what it means for a character to be "canonically" something.