"The first "Toxic Avenger" film, a Troma classic directed by the inimitable Lloyd Kaufman, arrived in theaters in 1984, eventually spawning three sequels, a stage musical, a Marvel comic book series, a video game, and an animated television series. Not too shabby! Of course, with legs like that, reboot talk couldn't be too far off. And reboot talk did indeed happen, in 2010, in 2013, and in 2016."
"Another year after that, Blair set Peter Dinklage as the film's star, reimagined as a scrappy janitor trying to hold his life together, both before and after he falls into a tank of toxic waste, the product of his very evil boss (Kevin Bacon). By 2021, Blair was shooting the film. In 2023, it finally premiered, hitting the genre circuit hard and to understandably pleased reviews. And then? Nada."
"So, is there a world where this film, one so long hoped-for and chatted-about, didn't get an actual release? As Blair told IndieWire during a recent interview, oh, yes. But that's not the world he wanted to live in - think of it as "Batgirl" Land - and his fears over the film not getting released (or not getting the released in a fun, splashy way) were laid to rest when Cineverse picked up the film in 2025."
The Toxic Avenger franchise began with Lloyd Kaufman's 1984 film and spawned sequels, a stage musical, comics, a video game, and an animated series. Reboot discussions occurred in 2010, 2013, and 2016, with serious development beginning in 2018 after Legendary acquired reboot rights. Macon Blair signed on as writer and director in 2019, later casting Peter Dinklage as a janitor who becomes Toxie after falling into toxic waste caused by his boss, played by Kevin Bacon. Filming occurred in 2021 and the film premiered in 2023 to positive festival responses. Cineverse acquired the film in 2025 for wider release.
Read at IndieWire
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