“The Toxic Avenger.”
Legendary Entertainment
More than 40 years after Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz co-directed horror comedy classic The Toxic Avenger, Kaufman is excited to bring a new version of the Troma tale to the masses.
Kaufman and Herz co-founded Troma Entertainment in 1974, which has produced or distributed more than 1,000 low-budget parodies in the past five decades, including the original Toxic Avenger movie in 1984.
While the name of the title hero has been changed from Melvin Ferd (Mitch Cohen in the 1984 film) to Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage in the new version), the plight of the character remains the same. Like Melvin, Winston is a janitor who is dumped into toxic chemicals that turn him into a powerful, mutated hero who fights crime.
In this instance, Winston, after his mutation, is looking clean house on Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon), a corrupt businessman whose haphazard ways led to his terminal illness and skirts treating him for it. But with Winston’s newfound powers as the Toxic Avenger, Garbinger soon comes to regret his decision to neglect the janitor-turned-superhero who dispatches of the bad guys in particularly gruesome ways.
Directed by Macon Blair, The Toxic Avenger opens in theaters nationwide on Friday. The film also stars Jacob Tremblay as Winston’s stepson, Wade; Taylor Paige as J.J. Doherty, a reporter who is looking to expose Garbinger’s corrupt business practices; and Elijah Wood as Garbinger’s henchman brother, Fritz.
Macon Blair and Lloyd Kaufman.
Legendary Entertainment
After Winston mutates into Toxie, as Kaufman affectionately calls the character, Luisa Guerreiro wears the suit and makeup of the mop-wielding crime fighter, while Dinklage provides his voice.
In a recent Zoom conversation, Kaufman said that he realized immediately that Blair was the perfect filmmaker to helm the project.
“We’re the only independent studio that I think has lasted for 52 years— and we have the same management,” said Kaufman, who has mentored the likes of James Gunn, Trey Parker and Matt Stone early in their careers. “The movies that come from the heart and soul and brain of the filmmaker, and that’s why Macon’s movie is so good. His Toxic Avenger is his movie … he really puts his heart into and his film is better than the original Toxic Avenger. Michael Herz and I are really proud of it.”
Kaufman and Herz are the producers of the new version of The Toxic Avenger, along with Legendary Entertainment, the prolific Hollywood production company that rebooted the franchise. One of the most important aspects of the new Toxic Avenger was that it matched the tone of the original, which Kaufman had no worries about after his initial conversations with Blair.
“I had a few meetings with Macon and we talked about it, and I could see he was Tromatized — no question about it,” Kaufman said. “Luckily, the cast members were all toxi-rrific and really into it. From the start, I had no problems with it as long as Legendary didn’t interfere and they didn’t, so good on them. They’re out making a Godzilla movie in Utah and luckily let Macon do his thing and he did a great job.”
The New ‘Toxic Avenger’ Uses Practical Makeup And Visual Effects Like The Original
While Lloyd Kaufman had complete confidence in director Macon Blair, he recalled being thrilled about how Troma focus groups responded to the new Toxic Avenger since it contains all of the things that made the original a classic.
“It’s got the underdog theme going, which we were big on. It’s got the pathos of family and a little bit of romance,” Kaufman observed. “It’s got all of the emotion, entertainment and political and sociological content that Troma is known for.”
Perhaps best of all, the new movie — like 1984’s The Toxic Avenger — is unrated thanks to the movie’s ample use of blood, guts and gore splatter, which is produced by practical makeup and visual effects. Otherwise, Kaufman noted, it simply wouldn’t be a Toxie or Troma movie.
“Macon has done a wonderful job in using practical effects with some new technology and the transformation of Toxie,” Kaufman said in praise of the director. “In our film, the transformation was, for its time, eye-popping. Macon has done a transformation that’s beautiful and eye-popping and lovely to look at.”
Peter Dinklage in “The Toxic Avenger.”
Legendary Entertainment
Despite having all of the hallmarks of a great Troma film, The Toxic Avenger — because it is unrated — has endured a bumpy path on its way to getting into theaters. Filming was completed for The Toxic Avenger in 2021 and after its rousing world premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, in September 2023, the movie was stuck in a holding pattern.
The new Toxie movie’s fortunes changed, though, in March of 2025, when Cineverse — the company behind the hit Terrifier movie franchise — picked it up for distribution. As such, Kaufman is grateful that Cineverse took a chance on The Toxic Avenger because he knew it was a movie that audiences wanted to see.
“The movie was shown at the Fantastic Fest in Texas in front of a big crowd and they loved it, and it played five other times with another Troma movie that was shown there,” Kaufman recalled. “Still, the film couldn’t find a distributor.
“Finally, Cineverse got it. They’re all young people there who love Troma,” Kaufman added. “They’re very enthusiastic and have done a good job in getting a word out about the film.”
The Toxic Avenger opens in theaters nationwide on Friday.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2025/08/29/troma-co-founder-thrilled-with-new-direction-of-the-toxic-avenger/