Yesterday, Fantastic Fest revealed that it would host the world premiere of Macon Blair's remake of The Toxic Avenger, a Legendary Pictures project based on the iconic 1984 Troma film. We'd been waiting for an update on this one for quite some time, and the entire FANGORIA team was thrilled to learn we are now merely weeks away from seeing Blair's film for ourselves.
Well, today brings us another Toxic Avenger update: the film's official poster and plot synopsis! Let's first take a gander at this one-sheet...
Bold, simple, memorable - a very strong piece of work, in other words. It would appear that Legendary Pictures is playing Toxie's look a closesly-guarded secret for the time being (the one official still they've released thus far only shows him in silhouette), but that's fine. We're patient!
Now let's take a look at the plot synopsis (via the good folks at Bloody Disgusting):
“While the original film (which premiered in 1984 – almost 40 years ago!) followed the fate of Melvin Ferd Junko III (Mitch Cohen), 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.
“Peter Dinklage stars as downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze who, after falling into a vat of toxic waste, becomes none other than The Toxic Avenger. This timely reimagining is up to its eyeballs in environmental themes as Winston goes up against the evil forces of greed and corruption to save his son, his friends, and his community.
“Even as this story exists on its own terms, the spirit undoubtedly remains connected to the original. Troma fans old and new will be pleased to know that the film has been rated “R” for violence and gore – as per Troma tradition.”
We are big fans of Macon Blair's work around these parts (if you have not already seen his I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore, get thee to Netflix immediately) and are very excited to see what he's done with this property. We're hoping for something big, colorful, knowingly absurd, and chock full of blood-'n-guts, and we think this particular creative team (that includes its cast, which in addition to Dinklage also features Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood, Taylour Paige, Julia Davis, and Jacob Tremblay) may well deliver exactly that.
Stay tuned for more on The Toxic Avenger as further updates roll in, and be sure to also stay tuned for our forthcoming Fantastic Fest coverage, which'll kick off after the fest opens on September 21st.
