The Toxic Avenger Remake Updates: Release Date & Story Details
The Toxic Avenger, the signature film of low budget movie makers Troma Entertainment, is getting a remake, and here's what we know about it so far. By an conventional standard, The Toxic Avenger is not a good movie. In fact, it's pretty bad. The same could be said for basically all of Troma's output, but when one sits down to watch a Troma film, they aren't looking for an Oscar-winning drama. Troma fans want to see gore, nudity, and lots of sleaziness, and that's exactly what the company usually provides.
There's a reason The Toxic Avenger adorns most of Troma's marketing though, and that's because the character's debut film is arguably the apex of company founder Lloyd Kaufman's brand of low budget moviemaking. It's utterly crass, regularly offensive - especially in today's much more sensitive social climate - full of death, sexual content, and over the top acting performances. However, to B-movie fans, it's also wildly entertaining, with a no rules spirit one only really gets from independent productions.
The Toxic Avenger is also something that doesn't really scream out for a remake, particularly in today's more politically correct world. Yet, that's exactly what Troma plans to do. For better or worse, Toxie will return.
A remake of The Toxic Avenger was first announced way back in 2010, with the stated intention of trying to reboot Toxie as a PG-13 environmentally conscious superhero, with Jim Carrey's The Mask being cited as an inspiration. However, as evidenced by the fact that it still doesn't exist, The Toxic Avenger remake has proved a hard nut to crack. As of 2019, Macon Blair is attached to write and direct, but is far from the first man to have been hired for those jobs. Legendary is overseeing the remake, with Troma's Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz producing. At this stage, there's no concrete timeframe for when The Toxic Avenger remake might release, as the film still has yet to enter production.
Right now, there's basically nothing known for sure about The Toxic Avenger remake's plot. The previously stated plan about doing a PG-13 reboot was formulated back in 2010, and since Legendary took over the project, they've yet to clarify whether the plan is still a kid-friendly Toxie or to embrace the character's R-rated roots. Fans of the franchise would certainly prefer the latter, as outside of the old Toxic Crusaders cartoon, The Toxic Avenger has never been considered fun for the whole family. After 10 years of trying though, maybe it's only a matter of time until the remake suffers yet another development setback.