The actor who gave us Frodo Baggins is looking very Oswald Cobblepot in first-look images from the upcoming “Toxic Avenger” movie.
Elijah Wood is the standout of stills (see post below) released from the film, which is premiering Thursday at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.
Macon Blair’s film is a new take on the 1984 B-movie classic that produced mutant New Jersey superhero the Toxic Avenger, aka Toxie.
Mendham’s Peter Dinklage plays the tutu-wearing titular character while Wood plays Fritz Garbinger, a villain who channels Danny DeVito’s the Penguin, aka Cobblepot, from “Batman Returns” (1992) with his blackened teeth, pale complexion and sunken eyes with dark circles.
Blair, the director, tells Entertainment Weekly the villain’s look is “sort of Riff Raff from ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together.”
There’s also a hint of glassy-eyed Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings” franchise, which stars Wood as the hobbit Frodo.
In the new “Toxic Avenger” (see teaser trailer below), Fritz is brother to Bob Garbinger, a corporate boss character played by Kevin Bacon. Wood’s goon calls on a group of ne’er-do-wells called the Killer Nutz, a gang of rock ‘n’-roll-flavored assassins.
When it comes to Dinklage’s new Toxie (see photos above), the tutu is of course a throwback to the original character who went on to star in a series of Troma films.
The Toxie of the Troma films, seen here, gets a makeover in the new movie. Troma Entertainment
Dinklage’s regular-guy name in the movie is Winston Gooze, a health club janitor, just like the 1984 film’s Melvin Ferd Junko III, before he gets transformed from a fall into a vat of toxic waste. He also carries Toxie’s signature mop.
Taylour Paige (”Zola”) also stars in the film as a kind of detective reporter, as does Jacob Tremblay (”Room”), who plays Wade, the stepson of Dinklage’s character.
Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz of Troma Entertainment, who directed the 1984 “Toxic Avenger,” are producers of Blair’s “Toxic Avenger” reimagining. The release date hasn’t been announced yet.
Mitch Cohen starred as the original Toxie, who was voiced by Kenneth Kessler (Mark Torgl played Melvin). Toxie lived in fictional Tromaville, New Jersey and the original movie was filmed across Jersey.
Caution: Trailer contains violence and profanity.
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup.