Why The Toxic Avenger Reboot Made Major Changes To Peter Dinklage's Toxie
For the past five decades, the folks over at Troma Entertainment have taken perverse pleasure in unleashing countless independent genre movies upon the world in which playing on bad taste is a feature, not a bug. Their brand of crude humor and gore-laden violence go hand in hand and possibly through some kind of grinder. While "Return to Nuke 'Em High," "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead," and "Tromeo & Juliet" are considered some of the most popular titles in their twisted library of splatter films, few have garnered the cultural impact of "The Toxic Avenger." The heartwarming story about a socially awkward janitor deciding to fight injustice through increasingly violent ways in the wake of falling into a barrel of toxic waste went from a cult hit sensation to the face of the studio. Toxie is to Troma what Mickey Mouse is to Disney or what the Looney Tunes used to be for Warner Brothers.
Ever since the 1984 film, "The Toxic Avenger" has become a multimedia enterprise consisting of three sequels, a Saturday morning cartoon ("Toxic Crusaders"), a video game tie-in, and an off-Broadway musical. And now, a remake is set to hit theaters later this week. Where the '84 film was directed by Herz and Kaufman (who credited himself under the alias Samuel Weil), the baton for this latest incarnation has been passed to Macon Blair ("I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore"). After being trapped in the festival circuit since 2023, the Legendary-produced "The Toxic Avenger" is finally getting a theatrical release courtesy of Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting. If every other superhero (or superhuman hero, as Kaufman would put it) can get their own contemporary reboot, then why not Toxie? That said, longtime "Toxic Avenger" fans should prepare themselves for a Toxie that isn't quite the character they remember this time around.
Macon Blair wanted to make Winston feel in tandem with his human and Toxie forms
/Film's Jacob Hall's review out of Fantasia Fest praised "The Toxic Avenger" as a gore-soaked comedy of anarchy whose sick sense of humor will vary in efficiency depending on your tolerance for Troma. A whole new generation of sickos deserve their own radioactive mop-wielding vigilante to look up to, after all. Blair wisely decides to play around with the material by going in a different direction concerning the titular character. The Toxic Avenger is no longer a stunted nerd named Melvin Ferd (Mark Torgl), but Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage), a widowed dad just trying to stay afloat and take care of his hilariously untalented son Wade (Jacob Tremblay) in troubling times. However, a troubling rendezvous with Elijah's Wood's disgusting Fritz Garbinger ultimately leads to a toxic sludge bath that changes him from a janitor into a whole new version of the ultra-violent hero we know and love.
"The Toxic Avenger" thankfully steers away from the worst remake trends by making alterations where necessary, while still delivering on the gory goods these movies are known for. It's also clear from Dinklage's involvement that Blair didn't want to go for a 1-1 recreation of having the protagonist be yet another nerdy young adult. "I felt they had done that so singularly that there wasn't much value in recreating that exact thing," Blair explained to SFX Magazine. Indeed, it doesn't make much sense to revive a long-dormant horror-comedy franchise just to do the exact same thing.
One of the biggest shifts from the '84 film is how Toxie presents himself before and after his transformation. Following the forbidden dip, the character's physical form is played by Luisa Guerrerio under loads of prosthetic makeup. Dinklage, however, is still present throughout as he retains Winston's voice. Blair felt this technique gave each actor their own sense of identity, while still making Toxie himself feel a singular person. As he put it:
"His voice changes, and they do feel like two distinct characters; That's part of the charm of the movie. But what I wanted in this one was for it to feel like the same person all the way through. It's just Winston's exterior that has changed; he's still the same sad dude underneath."
Toxie has always been an amalgamation of different actors
Dinklage had initially expressed some disappointment when he learned that he wouldn't be physically playing Toxie, but he came to appreciate Guerrerio's hard work once he started recording his lines. "I basically performed the whole movie as if I was Toxie, and she got all my mannerisms down, to mannerisms I didn't even know I had, and now I'm really self-aware of these mannerisms," Dinklage told ScreenRant. But while it's presented differently, having two actors playing the role essentially continues a longstanding franchise tradition.
In the '84 "Toxic Avenger," Melvin blossoms from a nasally-voiced adolescent to a warped superbeing bent on fighting injustice. His human form is played by Mark Torgl, but Mitch Cohen is behind Toxie's physical form, with Kenneth Kessler providing the voice. The fact that Toxie has a much deeper voice than Melvin's as a result of his radioactive puberty is a great gag that also gives each performer the room to put their stamp on the character. Ron Fazio and John Altamura were then brought in for "The Toxic Avenger Part II" and "The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie," as the former provided both his physical form and vocals. By the time Kaufman got to directing "Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV," the superhuman was changed yet again, with Clyde Lewis as the voice and David Mattey as the beautifully bizarre face Troma fans have come to love.
The difference between the previous films and Blair reboot is that pre-transition Toxie is played by a multi Emmy-winning actor. The character of Toxie is no Tyrion Lannister, but you don't get someone like Peter Dinklage to embody the role, only to just discard him after the first act. Blair is right in that having his voice there creates a symbiosis between him and Guerrerio that honors the dual duty of the original movies, while making them feel a bit more connected for potential emotional impact. It would be a shame if we didn't get to hear Dinklage angrily yell "I'm just some dude with a mop" before Guerrerio slashes a dude's jaw off with one.
"The Toxic Avenger" is set to hit theaters on August 29, 2025.