Peter Dinklage stars in what could become one of the defining films in his legacy: The Toxic Avenger.

The Toxic Avenger was originally an invention of Troma Pictures, released in 1984. It was directed by Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman, and written by Kaufman and Joe Ritter, was a low-budget, independent film that gained cult status after its release. It introduced the world to Melvin, a bullied janitor who becomes a grotesque, yet powerful, superhero after a toxic waste accident. 

The film was a goofy, it was absolutely a trashy “B” movie—perhaps a “C” movie—but fans loved Toxie anyway. Toxie became the mascot for Troma Pictures, and a symbol of their over-the-top filmmaking. The storyline was a familiar one: a downtrodden nobody gets superpowers and gains redemption through the use of them. The twist here is that he also becomes hideously deformed in the process. Most people, given the opportunity to receive superpowers, would quickly say “yes”, but when coupled with this drawback, might have to give the whole idea some serious thought.

The Toxic Avenger spawned a film franchise. There was a cartoon series on television, The Toxic Crusaders.

There was a musical in 2018. Let that sink in.

In this revival of the beloved character, the story of Toxie is reimagined to add depth to the character and to give the other actors more scenery to chew on. Melvin becomes Winston Gooze, has a son, and is barely managing to keep things together. Life has dealt Winston a really bad hand, and he does whatever he can to get by, including a fair bit of morally ambiguous stuff. When he gets his powers, before he can go be a superhero, he has to heal his relationship with his son, and that’s one of the major subplots.

Winston Gooze, a stereotypical weakling who works as a janitor at Garb-X health club and is diagnosed with a terminal illness that can only be cured by an expensive treatment that his greedy, power hungry employer (played by Kevin Bacon) refuses to pay for. After deciding to take matters into his own hands and rob his company, Winston falls into a pit of toxic waste and is transformed into a deformed monster that sets out to do good and get back at all the people who have wronged him.

The whole trope of giving the idea some serious thought might also apply to the film itself, but underneath the ridiculous splatter gore and the even wilder premise appears to be some solid writing, acting, editing and cinematography.

The film is “R” rated for its strong violence and gore, rough language, and brief graphic nudity. The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage as Winston and the voice of Toxie, Luisa Guerreiro as the post-mutation Toxie, Kevin Bacon as the villain Bob Garbinger (a portmanteau of “Garbage Harbinger”), Elijah Wood as his creepy brother Fritz Garbinger. It was originally ready for release in 2023, but then COVID happened, and the whole thing was put on the shelf until it could actually make some money selling tickets in actual theaters. Written and directed by Macon Blair, it releases August 29, 2025.