The Poisonous Avenger Films Ranked: Worst to Greatest

Macon Blair’s riotous remake of The Toxic Avenger has hit theaters, so it’s the proper time to revisit the long-running splatter movie sequence and its sequels, ranked from finest to worst.

Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Leisure have constructed a good identify for themselves within the low-budget impartial movie world, however their Poisonous Avenger motion pictures have arguably made the largest influence on audiences. The unique movie features as a weird parody of the horror and superhero genres with a comedic origin story of a meek janitor who’s was a grotesque defender of justice after he’s uncovered to poisonous waste.

Sequels are par for the course within the horror style, however The Poisonous Avenger has additionally managed to spawn a online game, Marvel comedian sequence, musical manufacturing, and even a youngsters’s animated sequence. Poisonous Avenger appreciation was renewed in 2020, heralded by information of a brand new reboot on the best way with Peter Dinklage set to play the film’s titular poisonous waste hero.

The remake suffered a delay between its 2023 debut at Incredible Fest, as Blair and Troma Leisure had problem securing a distributor over considerations in regards to the film’s outrageously violent content material. Nevertheless, Legendary Photos jumped on board to deliver Toxie to moviegoers throughout the nation.

It’s typically tough to supply good and justified horror sequels, and unsurprisingly The Poisonous Avenger franchise’s low-budget nature and absurdist narrative yielded a contrasting assortment of films. This is how they stack up in comparison with the 2025 remake.

Citizen Toxie: The Poisonous Avenger IV (2000)

The ultimate entry in The Poisonous Avenger sequence previous to the trendy remake got here out over a decade after its predecessor, and claims to be “the actual sequel”. It erases the occasions of the previous two motion pictures in favor of a special approach for Toxie, which is sadly far much less entertaining.

Citizen Toxie has the loosest, most summary plot of the complete franchise, and but it’s additionally one way or the other practically two hours lengthy. It’s a bitter word to finish the sequence on, and its new additions, like Toxie’s sidekick, Lardass, or his evil doppelgänger, The Noxious Offender, don’t do the film any favors.

It even turns right into a gratuitous crossover with fellow Troma character, Sgt. Kabukiman, which is jarring and albeit off-putting for these anticipating a moder modernized tackle Toxie. Frankly, The Poisonous Avenger sequence picked the flawed time to flex its connected universe muscular tissues.

The Poisonous Avenger Half II (1989)

The unique Poisonous Avenger is hardly a delicate piece of artwork, however its follow-up manages to get much more puerile. The Poisonous Avenger Half II is a testomony to Kaufman and Troma’s confidence after the shock success of the primary film, as they continued to push the envelope in nearly each course.

The sequel doubles down on Toxie’s significance as a determine for environmental causes, and the introduction of the hyperbolically evil Apocalypse Company works effectively sufficient. In the end, The Poisonous Avenger Half II is tied down by unneeded spectacles, like recurring musical numbers or Toxie’s journey to reconnect together with his household.

Half II additionally introduces a new actor for Toxie, as Ron Fazio replaces Mitch Cohen from the unique film. It is entertaining sufficient for individuals who beloved the unique, but it surely would not measure as much as its predecessor with the goofy aesthetic and splatter-film nature now not a shock.

The Poisonous Avenger (1984)

1984’s unique Poisonous Avenger introduces Melvin and the stunning flip that his life takes after he’s uncovered to poisonous waste and transforms into New Jersey’s first superhero. The Poisonous Avenger is a enjoyable deconstruction of typical hero narratives and is aware of to not take itself too critically, which is what makes the unhinged tone of the film work within the first place.

The film builds a enjoyable, weird world, but nonetheless demonstrates somewhat restraint, a trademark of the franchise that will get extra excessive the deeper into the franchise you go. The Poisonous Avenger is a movie that’s continuously disgusting and juvenile, but additionally manages to shine a lightweight on the aggressive impulses that lie dormant in individuals.

Supernatural creatures are often the source of danger in horror films, however The Poisonous Avenger highlights the positive line between man and monster. To be clear, the emphasis just isn’t on highlighting morality and heroism within the face of evil, as the normal superhero film may. The Poisonous Avenger is a cult basic for a cause, and when you can abdomen the gore, it really works to reel you into Toxie’s world.

The Poisonous Avenger Half III: The Final Temptation Of Toxie (1989)

The Final Temptation of Toxie, the third film within the sequence, is one way or the other the most effective and most ridiculous. After making Tromaville crime-free and peaceable, Toxie has problem adjusting to life with out crime to combat and baddies to dismember. He finally agrees to work for the very company that’s chargeable for his transformation in order that he can afford eye surgical procedure for his beloved Claire (named Sara within the first film).

After Claire regains her sight, she sees Toxie as he’s for the primary time, and falls much more in love with him. Toxie’s anxiousness over whether or not she’ll nonetheless love him when she will be able to see is assuaged, and offers each characters extra depth than they’ve had in earlier entries.

The humanization of Toxie is most positively an enchancment from earlier entries within the franchise, and it is a part of what makes the threequel the sequence’ finest. It will get even higher when issues go fully off the rails halfway by means of, when the Chairman of the evil company that Toxie works for reveals that he’s the literal Satan, finally resulting in a battle between Toxie and the Satan in a video game-inspired conflict.

The Final Temptation of Toxie was launched proper on the finish of 1989, however its meta impulses and wilder tone really feel extra consultant of the wave of ‘90s horror that adopted. It is a rarity that the third entry in any film sequence is its strongest, however The Final Temptation of Toxie manages to perform the feat.

The Poisonous Avenger (2023)

How do you’re taking a terrific cult basic idea and make it higher? You solid an Emmy-winning actor as Toxie, sprinkle in fun-loving stars like Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wooden, ratchet up the manufacturing worth, and replace the narrative to mirror trendy society. Macon Blair manages to make Toxie resonate higher than he ever has earlier than together with his reimagining of the mutant hero, and units a brand new customary for the franchise.

Blair discovered the appropriate classes from the earlier entries in Troma Leisure’s flagship sequence, and that begins with totally fleshing out the character and motivations of Toxie himself. Seeing extra of Winston Gooze (the stand-in for the unique’s much-maligned janitor Melvin Ferd) earlier than he turns into Toxie makes his mission to rid St. Roma‘s Village of the evil company that toxins the locals extra impactful.

Toxie grew to become a logo of ecological preservation as the unique film sequence and its subsequent spinoff media developed, however modern-day Toxie rails in opposition to Huge Pharma and the trendy healthcare system as a substitute. The out-and-out misogyny of the unique motion pictures is punted in alternate for a tighter, extra coherent narrative that leans into the heroic facet of Toxie versus his extra monstrous inclinations.

All of it comes collectively for a greater general film than something that got here earlier than it, and The Toxic Avenger‘s excellent Rotten Tomatoes score acts as proof that each critics and audiences agree about its high quality. Whereas the unrated film’s field workplace haul may not be sufficient to spawn a sequel, The Poisonous Avenger is destined for streaming success and cult basic standing when it lastly lands on VOD.