Legendary is developing a modern remake of the Troma classic The Toxic Avenger, with filmmaker and actor Macon Blair on board to write and direct. Blair is perhaps best known as an actor, having appeared on screen in movies like Green Room, Blue Ruin, and Thunder Road. He then began directing films in 2017, beginning with the Netflix comedy-thriller I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore with Melanie Lynsky, Elijah Wood, and Jane Levy. Blair has worked on other screenplays, but The Toxic Avenger will be his second movie as a director.
The original Toxic Avenger was released in 1984 by Troma Entertainment. It was directed by Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman, using a script co-written by Kaufman and Joe Ritter. In the cult classic movie, nerdy janitor Melvin Ferd (Mark Torgl) is targeted by a group of bullies to be the butt of a mean-spirited prank. The ensuing fallout leads to him falling into a vat of toxic waste, transforming him from a meek geek into “the first Super-Hero from New Jersey.” In the town of Tromaville, “Toxie” (Mitch Cohen) takes to fighting crime by way of horribly mutilating the city’s most vile criminals.
Multiple sequels to the original movie were produced by Troma in the following years. Once reboots and remakes became a popular trend in Hollywood after the start of the new millennium, rumors of The Toxic Avenger getting remade had been starting to swirl. At one point, the movie almost came to be with the involvement of the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, thanks to Legendary, it seems a new version of the cult classic is finally on track to really be made, and hopefully Macon Blair can do the source material justice.
Are you on board with the Toxic Avenger reboot? Or is Toxie best left preserved in the Troma film library? Share those opinions with us in the comments below and on social media.
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