Macon Blair’s reboot of Troma Pictures’ cult classic The Toxic Avenger has been one of the most anticipated movies on our list for the past couple of years. Now that Cineverse has picked up the distribution rights for the horror-comedy, we know the movie will finally hit theaters this August. But we still haven’t seen too many images of Toxie himself, the post-nuclear-waste janitor played by Peter Dinklage. Entertainment Weekly, goody for us all, has a new feature with two brand new images of Toxie in the full light of day.
The look of this version of Toxie, as opposed to the original Troma designs, feels a little…cuter, for lack of a better term. Toxie was famously hideous, but here he lives up to director Macon Blair’s description, “Part human, part mutant, all heart.” The movie also finds a different, less humiliating way for the character to have mutated while wearing a tutu.
Dinklage plays Winston Gooze, a janitor at a chemical factory trying to provide for his step-son. Winston endures a freak industrial accident that turns him into a mutant. Though he becomes an outcast as a result, he also uses his newfound superhuman strength to become a vigilante to battle freaks, gangsters, and corrupt CEOs. Alongside Dinklage, the movie stars Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Elijah Wood, and Kevin Bacon.
I got to see the movie in 2023 and it’s a delightfully gory and uproarious time. I’d recommend seeing it with people in theaters. You’ll soon be able to. The Toxic Avengers takes on corruption beginning August 29.
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Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.