We've gotten to know him more as an actor, especially in the work of Jeremy Saulnier, but Macon Blair has also stepped behind the camera to make 2017's I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore. He's now scored a potentially very fun gig, making a deal to write and direct the latest iteration of the Troma-spawned hero The Toxic Avenger.
Originally created by Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz and Joe Ritter for the low-budget schlock-buster company, the camp icon has his origin story in Melvin, a gentle wimp who cleans at the Tromaville Health Club. A lonely target for jocks and other tough types, he gets his chance at payback – and heroism – when he’s immersed in a vat of toxic waste.
Soon, the mop-wielding warrior is sorting out the bullies and fighting crime, not to mention wooing the ladies despite looking like a human-shaped mound of pond scum. The Troma team launched a cult franchise with the 1984 original and he's cropped up since then on TV and in comic books.
An attempt at a new live-action version has been in the works since at least 2010, passing through the hands of filmmakers such as Conrad Vernon and Steve Pink, with Arnold Schwarzenegger's name bandied around to play a role in the latter's version (admittedly not Toxie himself). Legendary has had the rights to a new film since December and is ready to get moving on this one. The key element will be to find someone to play the main character and our pitch is for Blair to return the favour of Saulnier's putting him through the wringer on screen and shove the director into layers of latex...
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