Superhero movies might be all the rage these days, but in the mid ’80s, all we needed was Toxie. Released in 1986 and directed by Lloyd Kaufman & Michael Herz, The Toxic Avenger tells the story of “the first superhero… from New Jersey!” Introducing the mop-wielding Troma mascot for the very first time, the movie spawned an entire franchise, forever making Toxie a pop culture icon. Now, almost three and a half decades later, the cult classic flick remains one of the most entertaining and beloved indie films of all time.
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THE MOVIE
Set in the fictional New Jersey town of Tromaville, The Toxic Avenger follows a puny, 98-pound nerd named Melvin (Mark Torgl) working as a janitor at the local gym. A group of bullies, led by hothead Bozo (Gary Schneider), trick Melvin into wearing a pink tutu and kissing a sheep, utterly humiliating him. Distraught, Melvin is chased through the health club by onlookers laughing at his misfortune. This leads to him accidentally falling out of a window straight into a barrel of toxic waste, hideously transforming him into a creature with superhuman size and strength.
His life forever changed, Melvin – now known as “Toxie” – retreats to the junkyard to live, casting himself out of society. However, recognizing the responsibilities that come with his newfound powers, Toxie turns to vigilantism by taking on Tromaville’s criminals. Clearly not a fan of Batman’s “no kill” rule, the “Toxic Avenger” starts mopping up the streets by killing off the city’s crooks.
While this brings great concern to the corrupt mayor (Pat Ryan, Jr.), the people of Tromaville have embraced Toxie as their savior, with many wearing “I Love the Monster” t-shirts to support their new hero. Everything works out well for Toxie by the end, as he rids the city of crime and even finds love with a sweet blind girl named Sarah (Andree Maranda).
This may technically be a superhero movie, but let’s not forget that The Toxic Avenger is also a comedy splatter film. It perfectly blends the right amount of bloody violence with comedy, while not going too far in either direction. One memorable example of this would be when Toxie straight-up rips the arm off of a would-be robber, which he then uses to whack the criminal with. Somehow topping this, Toxie then kills the man’s boss by turning his face into an ice cream sundae. It’s certainly messy, but the bad guys are vanquished.
The vigilante hero’s methodology for defeating crooks is certainly unorthodox and not exactly humane, but because of its comical nature, we can’t help but just love him for it.
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THE CARTOON
Given his unique gimmick and appearance, Toxie would almost be a child-friendly superhero, if not for the murder and mutilation. Because of this, The Toxic Avenger inspired the animated series Toxic Crusaders, which first aired in 1991. This version of the story had Toxie leading a gang of oddball superheroes to fight pollution.
Although only 13 episodes were produced, the cartoon series gained a cult following of its own, spawning a slew of merchandise like action figures and an official video game. At one point, a live-action film based on the animated series was even close to being made by New Line, but the deal ultimately fell through.
THE SEQUELS
Given the success of The Toxic Avenger, Troma was eager to make more Toxie movies, shooting two sequels back-to-back. The Toxic Avenger Part II was released in February of 1989, with The Toxic Avenger III: The Last Temptation of Toxie coming out that same year in November. While entertaining, neither film received the same levels of success as the original.
Toxie then sat on the shelf at Troma until 2000, when The Toxic Avenger IV: Citizen Toxie was released. An opening narration by Stan Lee writes off the other two follow-up films, labeling Citizen Toxie as the real sequel. With names like Ron Jeremy, Trent Haaga, and Debbie Rochon in the cast, the film is probably the most bizarre of all four Toxie movies.
THE MUSICAL
Because of its status as a beloved cult classic, The Toxic Avenger was adapted into a rock musical in 2008. With the book written by Joe DiPietro and music by David Bryan, the show was then performed across the United States for the next decade, receiving a film version release in 2018. Receiving mostly favorable reviews, the show was nominated for many musical awards, winning Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical at the 2009 Outer Critics Circle Awards.
The REBOOT
Rumors of a remake of The Toxic Avenger have been swirling for years, but it now appears to be finally happening. Filmmaker and actor Macon Blair was announced in 2019 as the writer and director of a Toxic Avenger reboot for Legendary, with original directors Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz producing. Any time a beloved classic like The Toxic Avenger gets remade, fans are going to understandably be leery. If nothing else, however, reintroducing the franchise to today’s generation will lead to new fans checking out the original, which is certainly a wonderful thing.
All four Toxic Avenger films have their place with Troma fans, and the upcoming remake could be entertaining. Still, it seems that that the original movie from 1986 will never, ever be topped. While we can appreciate the various homages and incarnations the franchise has received over the years, nothing can ever replace the magic of The Toxic Avenger.
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Mark Torgl’s new movie Toxic Tutu is “The Almost True Story Of Whatever Happened To Mark Torgl, Melvin The Mop Boy, of The Toxic Avenger” Available everywhere!