| The Toxic Avenger | |
| Creator: | Lloyd Kaufman |
| Origin: | The Toxic Avenger (1984) |
| Years: | 1984–present |
| Owner: | Legendary Entertainment Troma Entertainment |
| Tv: | Toxic Crusaders (1991) |
| Comics: | The Toxic Avenger (1991–1992) |
| Musicals: | The Toxic Avenger |
| Video Games: |
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The Toxic Avenger is an American superhero black comedy splatter film media franchise created by Lloyd Kaufman. It originated with the 1984 film of the same name and continued through three film sequels, a stage musical, a comic book series from Marvel Comics, a video game, and an animated television series.[1]
Two less successful sequels, The Toxic Avenger Part II and , were filmed as one. Kaufman realized that he had shot far too much footage for one film and re-edited it into two. A third independent sequel was also released, titled . An animated children's television series spin-off, Toxic Crusaders, featured Toxie as the leader of a team of mutated superheroes who fought against evil alien polluters. The animated series was short-lived and quickly cancelled. In 2019, it was announced that Legendary Pictures would be making a reboot of the film, with Kaufman and director/producer Michael Herz serving as producers, and Macon Blair serving as writer and director.[2]
The films generally follow the heroic exploits of Melvin Junko, a weak and skinny janitor turned into the deformed and mutated superhero, the Toxic Avenger, or "Toxie", by exposure to toxic chemicals. All films in the series were released by Troma Entertainment, known for producing low budget B-movies with campy concepts and gruesome violence. Virtually ignored upon its first release, The Toxic Avenger caught on with filmgoers after a long and successful midnight movie engagement at the famed Bleecker Street Cinemas in New York City in late 1985. It eventually came to be regarded as a cult classic.
See main article: The Toxic Avenger (1984 film). Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin is forced into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.
See main article: The Toxic Avenger Part II. The Toxic Avenger is tricked into traveling to Tokyo to search for his estranged father, leaving Tromaville open to complete domination by an evil corporation.
See main article: The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie. Toxie finds he has nothing to do as a superhero, as he has ridden his city of evil. He decides to go to work for a major corporation, which he discovers may be the evilest of all his adversaries.
The Toxic Avenger must defend his friends from his own evil alternate universe doppelgänger, The Noxious Offender.
See main article: The Toxic Avenger (2023 film). 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. On December 10, 2018, it was announced that Legendary Pictures had the rights to reboot the film, with Kaufman and Herz set to serve as the film's producers.[3] In March 2019, Macon Blair was announced to write and direct the upcoming reboot.[4] In December 2020, Peter Dinklage is set to star.[5] In April 2021, Jacob Tremblay also joined the cast with Taylour Paige, who joined in May 2021. On June 12, 2021, it was announced that Kevin Bacon had joined the film as the villain followed by Julia Davis and Elijah Wood on June 16, 2021.
See main article: Toxic Crusaders. A group of mutants fight against the pollution-loving alien Dr. Killemoff in the fictional city of Tromaville, led by Toxie, a nerd-turned-superhero.
- A indicates the actor portrayed the role of a younger version of the character.
- An indicates a role as an older version of the character.
- A indicates the actor or actress lent only his or her voice for his or her film character.
- An indicates the model served as a body double, with the actor or actress's likeness superimposed onto the model.
- An indicates the actor or actress lent only their likeness for his or her film character.
- An indicates an appearance through a photographic still.
- An indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio.
- A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.
| Character | Original series | Animated series | Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. | The Toxic Avenger | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Toxic Avenger | The Toxic Avenger Part II | The Last Temptation of Toxie | Citizen Toxie: | Toxic Crusaders | |||
| "Toxie" The Toxic Avenger | Mark Torgl Mitch Cohen Kenneth Kessler | John Altamura Ron Fazio | John Altamura Ron Fazio Michael J. Kaplan | Mark Torgl David Mattey Clyde Lewis | Rodger Bumpass | Peter Dinklage | |
| Sarah / Claire Yvonne Junko | Andree Maranda | Phoebe Legere | Heidi Sjursen | Kath Soucie | Julia Davis | ||
| Mayor Peter Belgoody Goldberg | R. L. Ryan | Rick Collins | Ron Jeremy Rick Collins | Chuck McCann | Kevin Bacon | ||
| Mrs. Ferd Junko | Sarabel Levinson | Jessica Dublin | Susan Silo | ||||
| Cigar Face | Dan Snow | ||||||
| Czar Gaseous Maximus Zosta | Steven J. Zmed | Patric Zimmerman | |||||
| Bozo Bonehead | Gary Schneider | Hal Rayle | |||||
| Girl in Locker Room | Marisa Tomei | ||||||
| Leroy | Patrick Kilpatrick | ||||||
| Ms. Mona Malfaire | Lisa Gaye | Susan Blu | Lisa Gaye | ||||
| Chester of the Lardass | Joe Fleishaker | ||||||
| Sumo Wrestler Fish Salesman | Lloyd Kaufman | Lloyd Kaufman | |||||
| Apocalypse Inc. Executive | Michael Jai White | ||||||
| Newscaster | Tsutomu Sekine | ||||||
| Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. | Paul Kyrmse | Paul Kyrmse Rick Gianasi | |||||
| The Narrator | Stan Lee | ||||||
| President of the United States | Hugh Hefner | ||||||
| God | Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf | ||||||
| "Noxie" The Noxious Avenger | David Mattey Clyde Lewis | ||||||
| Dr. Flem Hocking | James Gunn | ||||||
| Kinky Finkelstein | Corey Feldman | ||||||
| Captain Bender | Hal Rayle | Noble Lee Lester | |||||
| No-Zone | Paul Eiding | ||||||
| Major Disaster | Ed Gilbert | ||||||
| Captain Fender | John Mariano | ||||||
| Junkyard | Gregg Berger | ||||||
| Dr. Killemoff | Rodger Bumpass | ||||||
| Psycho | Michael J. Pollard | ||||||
| Lotus | Susan Byun | ||||||
| Reverend Snipes | Larry Robinson | ||||||
| Reginald Stuart | Bill Weeden | ||||||
| Jughead Jones | Brick Bronsky | ||||||
| Wade | Jacob Tremblay | ||||||
| J.J. Doherty | Taylour Paige | ||||||
| Mayor Togar | Sarah Niles | ||||||
| Budd Berserk | Julian Kostov | ||||||
| Fritz Garbinger | Elijah Wood | ||||||
| Guthrie Stockins | David Yow | ||||||
| Thad Barkabus | Jonny Coyne | ||||||
| Shelly Gooze | Rebecca O'Mara | ||||||