Lloyd Kaufman Refutes Rumors of James Gunn Working on New ‘Toxic Avenger’

One of the exciting elements of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that it often draws talent from surprising places, such as Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn getting his start in the micro-budget horror film series The Toxic Avenger. In a recent interview with co-founder of Troma Studios Lloyd Kaufman about a new film in the series, certain comments implied that Gunn would be returning to the franchise. Kaufman, however, clarified the issue and denied this claim.

“I have worked with James Gunn and the script we have for The Toxic Avenger 5 is the finest I have read,” Kaufman shared with SFX Magazine (via Dread Central). “It shows Toxie fighting the bureaucrats and the obnoxious rich people who are harming the people of Tromaville.”

At first glance, it’s easy to see how “the script we have” immediately following comments about Gunn could be perceived as Gunn serving as a contributor, but Kaufman took to Instagram to clear up the matter.

Kaufman shared a photo of himself with Gunn, adding the comment, “There is a big error on line! As much as Toxie and I love him and would LOVE to have James Gunn work on Toxie 5, this is NOT true! Unless James is planning to surprise Uncle Lloydie this is fake news!”

The photo that Kaufman selected was from his time on the set of the Guardians of the Galaxy, one of the ways in which Gunn paid his respects to the man who helped him launch his career.

Given that some of Gunn’s earlier projects were horror films like Slither and Dawn of the Dead, it wouldn’t seem too out of the question for him to contribute to the Toxic Avenger series, though he’s likely too busy working on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and other projects to find the time to also work on the series.

Kaufman went on to describe the concept for the new film, detailing, “This is a very ambitious Toxic Avenger movie. The script is complete and it will focus on Toxie’s two children who, 20 years after part four, have all grown up. And one has mutated into a very strange being. Toxie is going to go to Chernobyl in this one. It will cost just $100,000 – but I think it is the best one yet.”

Stay tuned for details on the Toxic Avenger series.

Would you like to see Gunn return to the franchise? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T Instagram, lloydkaufman]