The Toxic Avenger Is Not That Kind of Avenger

ABLUpdated 19 hours Ago2 Mins read4

The Toxic Avenger is a mean, green, gory machine, and he’s back to protect the streets of (checks notes) New Jersey. Well, that seems about right. The Peter Dinklage–starring reboot of The Toxic Avenger first premiered at Austin’s Fantastic Fest in September 2023, and now, in 2025, the film is finally making its way to the big screen. Based on the 1984 cult classic of the same name, the film was reportedly deemed “unreleasable” by potential distributors because of its level of violence, despite starring Dinklage, Kevin Bacon, and Elijah Wood, per World of Reel. To be fair, it is unrated — which the film’s social-media account attributed to “Splatter laughter, monstercore, punk rock bandits, mops and toxic sludge exposure.”

After two years, it was picked up for distribution by Cineverse in January. “I’m beyond grateful to the team behind The Toxic Avenger who were so supportive and steady-handed as we searched for the perfect distribution partner for our film,” director Macon Blair said in a statement at the time, per Variety. “It’s so cool that folks will have the chance to see this in theaters; it’s a fun rowdy movie you wanna see with a crowd.” Below, everything you need to know about the release of an unreleasable film.

Where’s the trailer?

Wait … what even is this?

Originally an unrated cult-favorite film released in 1984 alongside a Marvel comic series, the Toxic Avenger had a successful midnight movie at New York’s Bleecker Street Theater for over a year, before becoming a late-night cable classic, per Den of Geek. It spawned two sequels in the ’80s: The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie, both released in 1989. There’s also a fourth film, 2000’s Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV, which did not acknowledge the first two sequels. In 2009, the New York Times called an Off Broadway musical adaptation “dopey” and “intermittently funny.” The 2025 film tells the same “origin story” as the original film, even grittier.

Who’s in the cast?

Peter Dinklage stars as the titular Toxic Avenger, with Jacob Tremblay as his son, and Kevin Bacon as the chief antagonist, Bob Garbinger. Other cast members include Zola star Taylour Paige as investigative journalist J.J. Doherty and Elijah Wood as Bacon’s younger brother Fritz Garbinger. Notably, all the names of the characters are new — even the original Toxic Avenger was named Melvin Junko — signaling a departure from the original film.

When is the release date?

The Toxic Avenger premieres in theaters on August 25. Fun for the whole family!