There’s been one superhero who has been conspicuously absent during Hollywood’s superhero movie renaissance, and that’s the Toxic Avenger. The cult favorite satirical hero of the ’80s — and Troma Entertainment’s biggest contribution to pop culture — hasn’t appeared in a movie since 2000’s Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV, but that’s about to change.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary has acquired the rights to the property and is producing a remake, with their ultimate goal being to create a new cinematic franchise. Development is in its earliest stages, with no writer or director yet attached, but it is known that Alex Garcia (Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters producer) and Jay Ashenfelter (Pacific Rim: Uprising producer) will oversee the project. And for all you Toxie purists out there who are worried about a corporate takeover of the cult classic, it looks like the remake will stay true to the spirit of the original, as Troma founders and original directors Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz are both returning as producers on the reboot.
The original film told the story of 98 pound janitor Melvin Ferd, who after falling into a vat of toxic waste, transforms into the grotesque and hulking guardian of Tromaville, New Jersey known as the Toxic Avenger. The movie, a satirical and gory B-movie send up of superheroes, spawned three sequels, a ’90s kids cartoon series, a Marvel comic series, and even a stage musical. So despite its humble origins, The Toxic Avenger actually managed to spawn a fairly successful franchise, something Legendary no doubt has on its mind as the studio looks to start over from scratch and make the property bigger than ever before.
