Ahead of its world premiere at Fantastic Fest, Legendary Entertainment has revealed the first batch of The Toxic Avenger photos for its upcoming reimagining of the 1984 superhero movie. The photos provide audiences a first look at the main cast, including Peter Dinklage’s titular hero. One of the photos also teased Elijah Wood’s transformation into a villain, as he gets a Penguin-like makeover for his role as Fritz Garbinger.
Speaking with EW, director Macon Blair opened up about Wood’s villainous character, describing his appearance as a mix of “Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin.”
He added: “The look came about by discussions I had with our designers and with Elijah himself. I wanted it to feel like a Peter Sellers type of performance where he just goes invisible. The idea is that you forget that it’s the Elijah that you know from Lord of the Rings or anything else.”
What to expect in The Toxic Avenger remake?
“While the original film followed the fate of Melvin Ferd Junko III, who goes from zero to toxic hero in a case of bullying gone awry, Macon Blair’s contemporary take follows a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength all his own,” reads the synopsis. “Peter Dinklage stars as downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze who, after falling into a vat of toxic waste, becomes none other than The Toxic Avenger.”
The Toxic Avenger reboot is a contemporary re-imagining of Troma Entertainment’s 1984 cult classic dark comedy that subverts the superhero genre in the vein of Kick-Ass. Joining Dinklage are Jacob Tremblay (Room, Good Boys), Taylour Paige (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Kevin Bacon (X-Men: First Class), Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings films), Julia Davis (Camping), Jonny Coyne (Beirut), Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso), David Yow (Under the Silver Lake), and Jane Levy (Evil Dead).
The film is written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Macon Blair (Green Room.) It is produced by original directing duo Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz for Troma Entertainment, with Alex Garcia and Jay Ashenfelter to oversee development for Legendary.
It will have its world premiere on September 21 at Fantastic Fest.
