Why The Toxic Avenger Deserves To Win The Box Office More Than Any Other Movie

Everyone loves a survival story because they tap into something primal and universal: our will to live, our ability to adapt, and our drive to overcome. Regardless of genre, survival stories remind the audience that even when we are revealed to be our most flawed and fragile, we are still fiercely resilient — even if we're a lowly janitor who is covered in toxic goo and mutated into something the world sees as monstrous. Yes, even then, we can still find it within ourselves to persevere and do right by our communities.

Arguably the unlikeliest of superheroes, The Toxic Avenger began as a low-budget, high-gore oddity from Troma in the 1980s. Over the years, this cult classic didn't just survive, it evolved into sequels, merch, and even a questionable cartoon for kids. Equal parts grotesque and silly, with a splash of social satire, Toxie became the trash-can crusader of a generation. And just when you thought he'd decomposed for good, he's back — sludge and all — with a 2025 reboot directed by Macon Blair and starring Peter Dinklage.

And like our intrepid, radioactive hero, the folks behind the new take on "The Toxic Avenger" have elected to forego traditional means of marketing to instead help people trying to survive in real life, by partnering with the non-profit Undue Medical Debt to eliminate the plague of financial ruin caused by medical debt. In a statement released by Cineverse, a minimum of $5 million in medical debt will be pulverized by Team Toxie, and for every $1 million the film makes at the box office after its arrival on August 29, another $1 million in medical debt will be eaten away.

Instead of millions of dollars in profit going toward a billionaire studio executive buying another yacht or a disgustingly wealthy Hollywood A-lister taking yet another month-long vacation at the Turks and Caicos Islands, the people who need it most are going to reap the benefits.

"We spent hours brainstorming how to close out the campaign and, while sending Toxie to the moon was appealing, no idea came close to combating unexpected medical debt for families," said Cineverse SVP of Marketing Lauren McCarthy in a press release. "The Toxic Avenger had his entire life upended by crushing medical costs, so, as Toxie says, 'Sometimes you have to do something.'" According to Undue Medical Debt, over 100 million people in the United States struggle under the weight of medical debt, with citizens owing at least a collective $220 billion in past-due medical expenses. For our readers outside of the States, yes, we do know how inhumane and ridiculous it all is.

"As the medical debt crisis continues to grow, we're grateful for this partnership with 'The Toxic Avenger' film, which is not only funding debt relief but also shining a light on the human impact of a broken system," said Marisa Clemente, Vice President of Philanthropy at Undue Medical Debt. "We are always looking to team up with real-life superheroes who support our mission — including movie lovers, who now have an easy way to enjoy a reimagined classic while supporting financially and emotionally burdened families."

Now, I've written quite a bit about my own experiences with the American healthcare system (including the subject of Netflix's "Apple Cider Vinegar") as a survivor of pancreatic cancer, but I seldom discuss the financial burden of it all. What does it say about the state of the U.S. when the two most fiscally irresponsible decisions I ever made were "going to college" and "not dying of cancer?" Undue Medical Debt leverages donations to purchase qualifying medical debt (that is, for individuals four times or below the federal poverty level or who have medical debt that is 5% or more of their annual income) and can pay it down for pennies on the dollar. Recipients will be unaware they've been chosen until after some or all of their debt has been wiped out.

It's very, very easy to become cynical in our current timeline, because each new day brings the announcement of some fresh new hell. Wages stagnate while costs continue to soar, generations are drowning in debt, rights for those most marginalized are being rolled back, gun violence continues as an everyday occurrence, the environment is in danger, and despite doing everything "right," everyone feels like they're falling behind on their lives' milestones. The American Dream has become a nightmare, and the majority of society cannot afford to go to a doctor to even stay alive in it.

The original "The Toxic Avenger" was the North Star of Troma Films, a company that has always prided itself on spending as little money as humanly possible to make their films. So, if a movie backed by the B-movie weirdos who gave us titles like "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead," "Surf Nazis Must Die," "Rabid Grannies," "Yeti: A Love Story," and "Killer Condom" is willing to actually do some good in this world, what does it say about the billion-dollar corporations who could do the same, but have chosen not to? Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely absurd that the philanthropic whims of those in power can literally determine whether or not a person lives or dies because the American medical system operates like one of Jigsaw's puzzles (see "Saw VI" for more details), but until it's completely disbanded and we're given universal healthcare, I guess we need to be grateful that at least we have GoFundMe and The Toxic Avenger.

See "The Toxic Avenger," and do your part to help eliminate medical debt by catching it in theaters starting on August 29, 2025. Get your tickets here.