The Toxic Avenger (1984) – Meet Toxie, valiant hero and deformed freak who escaped the life of a gawky dork when a prank ended with him falling into a barrel of toxic waste.
Advertisement
Sausage Party co-director Conrad Vernon has been set to helm The Toxic Avenger, the live-action remake of the signature schlock franchise launched years ago by Troma. If not, Troma is known for its low-budget, B-movies, of which Toxic Avenger is perhaps its greatest hit. Unlike the rude, crude, tremendously tactless original 1986 film that remains a crown jewel for Lloyd Kaufman’s Troma Entertainment, this remake of The Toxic Avenger will reportedly manifest in a form that’s “more grounded and mainstream”. We know it’ll be produced by Storyscape Entertainment and Akiva Goldsman’s Weed Road, that a script (by Steve Pink and D.C. Mitchell) is being rewritten by Chris Poole and Mike Arnold, and.that’s about it.
In a statement, Storyscape Entertainment’s Richard Saperstein called Vernon “the ideal director to bring this iconoclastic franchise back to life”, citing his “subversive comedy” chops, so it at least seems like the remake will be bringing the laughs, however inappropriate. Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz will executive produce. Whether or not this remake leads to its own franchise is an open question, but it’ll certainly be different as compared to anything Marvel or DC are putting out.
Vernon recently co-directed Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s R-rated CG animation, Sausage Party about anthropomorphic hot dog having an existential crisis.
His other credits include the animated films Shrek 2 and Monsters vs. Aliens.
Advertisement
While Vernon’s resume isn’t something that evokes the classic schlock of the The Toxic Avenger or its three sequels, we have seen the franchise transformed from its schlock roots back in 1991 as the post-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kid’s cartoon series Toxic Crusaders, even supported by an accompanying toy line.
