The Toxic Avengers has been brutally cleaning up the streets for nearly 40 years. With a new star-studded, big-budget Toxie movie coming very soon, here’s a brief history of the character.
Having worked behind-the-scenes on movies like Rocky and Saturday Night Fever, Lloyd Kaufman made the move into producing by forming Troma Entertainment, and making a series of sex comedies.
But when that market became too crowded, he decided to try other genres. Having enjoyed success with horror movie Mother’s Day, he tried to combine gore and violence with sex and comedy.
So Kaufman took an idea he’d previously had about a horror movie set in a health club, made the protagonist a zero-turned-hero, and so The Toxic Avenger was born.
Who is The Toxic Avenger?
The Toxic Avenger is the superhero at the heart of his own self-titled 1984 movie. But the character doesn’t start out heroic, as at the beginning of the cult flick, he’s mild-mannered janitor Melvin Junko.
Melvin is a wimp who works at the Troma Health Club, and spends his days being tormented by local bullies, who also get their kicks beating up old ladies and running down little kids.
The bullies play a prank on Melvin that ends with him flying out of a window and into a vat of toxic waste. His body burns up, his muscles start popping, his voice drops several octaves, and now Melvin is… The Toxic Avenger.
What follows is a pretty typical superhero narrative, with Toxie fighting crime, rescuing those in danger, and getting revenge on people who wronged him. But being a Troma movie, it’s filled with sex and violence, as well as some outdated language in a film that seeks to offend.
But at its heart, The Toxic Avenger is a sweet story about a browbeaten kid who gains respect when he turns toxic, finds love in the arms of a blind girl, and is ultimately saved by the community he uses his powers – and mop – to protect.
The film sank without a trace on release, but then started playing midnight shows all over New York, and so a cult was born. One that grew when Toxie hit video in 1986.
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Sequels followed, as did all manner of merchandise, and even a kid’s cartoon called Toxic Crusaders. Indeed, Troma is now considered “the house that Toxie built.” So it’s no shock that the beloved character is finally going big-budget. Just a surprise that it took this long.
New Toxie movie explained
A mainstream Toxic Avengers movie has been gestating for the best part of two decades. First there was going to be a family-friendly reboot based on the Toxic Crusaders. Then Guillermo Del Toro was going to produce a version. And fans nearly got a Toxie movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the title character.
Now Macon Blair is the filmmaker charged with the task of bringing the Toxic Avenger to the masses. Blair starred in the likes of Blue Ruin and Green Room, while more recently he appeared in Oppenheimer. But he also wrote and directed the brilliant I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore, and he’s pulling both writing and directing duties on Toxie.
Speaking about Macon’s appointment in 2012, Lloyd Kaufman told Dread Central: “Macon Blair knows Troma better than I do. He’s seen everything. He’s seen the cartoon, he’s seen the Halloween special, he’s seen everything. And he loves our movies.
“I’ve read the script and it’s better than the original and I leave it to him… he knows the Troma sense of humor, the combination of slapstick, and satire with the environmental theme.”
The Toxic Avenger plot and cast
The Toxic Avenger debuts at Fantastic Fest next week, and the festival describes the film’s plot as follows: “A horrible toxic accident transforms downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze into a new evolution of hero: The Toxic Avenger! Now wielding a glowing mop with super-human strength, he must race against time to save his son and stop a ruthless and power-hungry tyrant bent on harnessing toxic superpowers to strengthen his polluted empire.”
The cast that Macon has assembled is impressive, with the major players as follows:
- Peter Dinklage as Winston Gooze/The Toxic Avenger
- Jacob Tremblay as Wade Gooze
- Kevin Bacon as Bob Garbinger
- Elijah Wood as Fritz Garbinger
- Taylour Paige as J.J. Doherty
- Julia Davies as Kissy Sturnevan
- Sarah Niles as Mayor Togar
- Julian Kostov as Budd Berserk
- David Yow as Guthrie Stockins
- Jonny Coyne as Thad Barkabus
- Jane Levy as Cheerful Insurance Rep
- Macon Blair as Dennis
The Toxic Avenger doesn’t yet have a release date, but we’ll be at that Fantastic Fest screening, meaning the Dexerto review will follow soon after.
For more new horror movies and shows to watch this Halloween, check out our list of the best here.