Elijah Wood and Julia Davis officially joined the cast for Legendary Entertainment's The Toxic Avenger movie reboot.
Wood and Davis will star opposite Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige and Kevin Bacon in the film, reported Deadline. Contrary to previous reports, however, Wood will not play the villain; instead, that role will be filled by Bacon.
The Toxic Avenger marks a reunion for Wood and director Macon Blair, who worked together on the 2017 Sundance award-winning crime dramedy I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore. It's also the latest horror-flavored project for The Lord of the Rings trilogy star, following his performances in the 2012 Maniac remake, 2014 horror/comedy Cooties and the 2019 comedy/thriller Come to Daddy.
An award-winning actor/writer, Davis costarred in the 2003 rom-com Love, Actually, in addition to creating and starring in the series Hunderby (which landed her a BAFTA for comedy writing in 2013). She also appeared in the Black Mirror Season 1 episode "Fifteen Million Merits" and 2019's Fighting with My Family, the true story-inspired wrestling dramedy headlined by Black Widow's Florence Pugh.
Legendary picked up the rights to The Toxic Avenger franchise in Dec. 2018, later setting Blair to write and direct the film. Lloyd Kaufman, who co-directed the original 1984 Toxic Avenger movie, commented on Blair's script in early 2021, stating, "It’s better than the original. Macon Blair knows Troma better than I do... He knows the Troma sense of humor, the combination of slapstick and satire with the environmental theme."
The synopsis for The Toxic Avenger reboot reads,
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.
Directed by Macon Blair, The Toxic Avenger stars Peter Dinklage, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood and Julia Davis. The film has yet to receive a release date.
Source: Deadline