Rating: NR | Runtime: 102 minutes
Release Date: August 29th, 2025 (USA)
Studio: Bloody Disgusting / Cineverse Entertainment
Director(s): Macon Blair
Writer(s): Macon Blair / Lloyd Kaufman & Joe Ritter (1984 film)

Sometimes you gotta do something.

What was an 80s-era coked-up sex comedy is now a stock-driven environmental disaster splatter fest as writer/director Macon Blair transforms The Toxic Avenger from virgin co-ed to emotionally drowning dad. The radioactive origin of the titular hero’s invulnerability is therefore more than just a background gag of two idiots transporting waste barrels sans lids. It’s now very specifically the lethal runoff from a billion-dollar health magnate’s enterprise that’s backed by the mob. So, while the political machine still resides in one man’s pocket, he’s firmly planted in one too.

The man: Bob Garbinger (Kevin Bacon). Far from the sharpest tool in the shed, he’s more the “face” than “brains” behind the operation. The obvious move would be giving that title to his associate Kissy Sturnevan (Julia Davis), but her days seem to just be spent salivating over that aforementioned body. Suffice it to say, their finances don’t look good. Some of that is the result of stagnating market share courtesy of a dead product line. Some of it is intrepid reporter J.J. Doherty (Taylour Paige) exposing their destructive modes of operation.

So, while he treads water glad-handing municipal big wigs, Bob is trying not to lose his own head to mob boss Thad Barkabus (Jonny Coyne). The former wreaks havoc upon the populace via consumer culture influence while the latter intimidates property owners to cede over land. Bob has a metalcore band (don’t call them rock) known as The Killer Nutz moonlighting as his inept assassins under the command of his Riff Raff-looking brother (and their manager) Fritz (Elijah Wood). Thad has his Ivy League, khaki-wearing son strong-arming defenseless old women.

Running parallel are Winston’s (Peter Dinklage) attempts to keep his head above water as a single stepdad to his late love’s son, Wade (Jacob Tremblay). He hopes to inspire the boy to get over his stage fright and find the confidence his mother had in spades, but it’s tough to set an example when his knee-jerk reaction to injustice is to simply look away. Winston is desperate to make a difference, though, because a recent diagnosis says Wade will be an orphan in six-to-twelve months. And this world being a hyper-stylized devolution of our own means health insurance surely won’t help.

One thing leads to another and Winston’s meek janitor becomes the powerful mutant endearingly known as “Toxie” once his desire to be a good example for Wade finally acquires the strength to do so. Partnering up with J.J. to take Bob down (both with a personal and societal grudge against him), Blair sets them on a similar path as the original Lloyd Kaufman film as far as saving a restaurant from homicidal maniacs (radicalized misogynists for whom the name change from Mr. Beef to Miss Beef proves a bridge too far) and battling The Warriors rejects in the streets. The blood never stops.

Blair leans heavily into the gore as Toxie (played by Luisa Guerreiro with Dinklage still providing the voice) holds nothing back when confronted by a villain threatening his son and/or their community. And since the only opposite sex pairings are Kissy’s unrequited lusting over Bob and Toxie working with the much younger J.J., the sex quotient is nearly dialed to zero besides a flashing sequence during a concert. Because, despite the increased violence, this iteration is also focused on dialing up the heart.

To do so, however, is to pivot away from St. Roma banding together to save Toxie and towards Toxie saving Wade. That also means supplying him a bigger baddie than a corrupt mayor with a bullhorn (try to spot the “Belgoody Bail Bond” Easter Egg). Bacon is having a blast fulfilling that role, but the decision to go full comic book movie by forcing a mutant-on-mutant climactic battle is pretty tired (extra points for the Batman v Superman gag, though). Thankfully, we’re not here for solid storytelling (the original might actually be smarter). We’re here for fun.

The Toxic Avenger doesn’t disappoint on that front due in large part to some fantastic peripheral characters. Wood is a lot of fun as the just-because-he-looks-evil-doesn’t-mean-he’s-a-monster lackey. Abraham Lewis as Thad’s son is polo douche perfection. And David Yow’s “Wise Hobo” is always good for a laugh being that he’s as wild card as it gets. That’s saying something for a film with so much going on that the on-screen expositional text overwhelms with its myriad adverbs and in-jokes. I’m just glad Nutz’s designated breakdancer never stops flipping.

Blair ultimately delivers more love letter than true standalone with something new to say. Yes, it tightens the corruption angle by focusing on the aftermath of post-capitalist greed in which we’re currently mired, but I saw so much of Trump in Mayor Belgoody that its predecessor might inexplicably prove timelier. The misogyny is nicely flipped to call out misogynists (I loved Lee Eddy taking the piss out of a grumpy Ev Lunning during every TV news report) and the relationship between Winston and Wade is a nice touch, but the real takeaway is the gore. Honestly, that’s probably all fans wanted anyway.

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Luisa Guerreiro as “Toxie” in the action, comedy, horror film, THE TOXIC AVENGER, a Cineverse release. Photo courtesy of Yana Blajeva/Legendary Pictures.