MD Bastek
Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage is set to star in a remake of the 80s cult classic Toxic Avenger. It was recently announced that Dinklage’s remake has received an R rating due to excessive violence and nudity.
IGN quotes the synopsis of the Toxic Avenger remake: “Based on the 1984 cult classic of the same name […] Set in a fantasy world following Winston, 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 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.”
Dinklage is playing the title role opposite Elijah Wood, Kevin Bacon, Julia David, and Jacob Tremblay.
LAD Bible points out that Toxic Avenger’s R rating isn’t unusual as far as superhero movies go, with movies including Logan, Blade, The Suicide Squad, Deadpool, and Kick-Ass also given R ratings.
Talk of a Toxic Avenger remake has been circulating since 2010. At the time, it was said that the movie was actually going to be more of a family-friendly PG-13 type movie. As of 2018, Legendary Pictures took over the reboot and in March 2019, it was announced that Macon Blair will write and direct. Toxic Avenger’s original creators and producers, Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, will serve as producers on the remake. Blair is an actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer, as well as a comic book writer. His directorial debut was I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore. As an actor, he’s known for his roles in Blue Ruin and Green Room.
Released in 1984, the original Toxic Avenger film follows the adventures of Melvin Ferd Junko III (Mark Torgl) who works as a janitor at a health club in the fictitious town of Tromaville, N.J. Melvin is mercilessly bullied. After his tormentors chase him, he falls into a vat of toxic waste. He emerges physically deformed. However, he also develops superhuman size and strength and becomes a crime-fighting superhero. The original Toxic Avenger was written by Joe Ritter and Lloyd Kaufman. Kaufman also served as director with Michael Herz.
The original film has become a cult classic in the years since its release and has spawned a franchise, including three sequels: The Toxic Avenger Part II, The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie, and Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV. Besides movies, there was a stage musical production, a children’s cartoon TV series, and a Marvel comic.
