"Whither the B-movie? Movies like The Toxic Avenger (1984) - an unbridled superhero spoof that mixed together black comedy and body horror in its mockery of everything from wellness culture to the U.S. government - don't really get made anymore, which is probably part of why The Toxic Avenger (2025) had such a hard time getting in front of audiences."
"But for two years after its festival debut, The Toxic Avenger sat shelved without a distribution deal. In the meantime, a whole other movie written by Blair and starring Dinklage got released (2024's ), and Blair served as an executive producer on his childhood friend Jeremy Saulnier's film Rebel Ridge. He feared that his movie could go the way of Coyote vs. Acme - a fully completed film written off by its studio as a tax loss and "vanished" into a vault."
The Toxic Avenger (2025) reinvents the 1984 cult spoof with black comedy, body horror, and pointed social critique. Peter Dinklage stars as Winston Gooze, a janitor turned radioactive avenger who balances single fatherhood, a dire medical diagnosis, and violent confrontations with a corrupt Big Pharma company. The update combines grotesque gore with surprising tenderness as Winston uses a radioactively powered mop to fight enemies, aids a whistleblower, and strives to be a better dad to his son Wade. The film premiered at genre festivals and earned praise but remained shelved for two years before Cineverse acquired rights for an unrated theatrical release.
Read at Vulture
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