Lord of the Rings Fans Think Elijah Wood Looks Like Gollum in R-Rated Cult Classic Reboot

If Frodo Baggins succumbed to the temptation of the One Ring, he would probably look like Fritz Garbinger in the new trailer for The Toxic Avenger. The movie finds Elijah Wood playing a stooped, balding, pallid man who tries to wrangle an over-the-top band called The Killer Nutz. Fans have been waiting years for this remake to come out, but now that it’s drawing close they’re not really sure what to make of this teaser. The main plot follows Winston Gooze (Peter Dinklage) as he is transformed into a vigilante called The Toxic Avenger, or Toxie. The movie will hit theaters in the U.S. on August 29th, nearly two years after its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in 2023.

The Toxic Avenger is billed a remake of the original 1984 film, though it renames many of the main characters and changes the plot up quite a bit. It’s unclear how Fritz Garbinger and his clown-faced band will factor into the story, but it’s clear that they are antagonists to the titular hero. For Lord of the Rings fans, this teaser is almost like a dark vision of what could have befallen Frodo.

Wood is still best-known for the starring role in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, though at this point, most of his work has more in common with this reboot. The actor has pursued a lot of passion projects and shown a lot of creative integrity over the years, often leaning into counter-cultural themes and aesthetics like this one. He even co-founded a record label and a horror production company, making him a perfect fit for this movie.

[RELATED: The Toxic Avenger Reboot Reveals First Look at Brand New Toxie]

The Toxic Avenger is a dark comedy, a horror film, and a superhero movie all rolled into one. It started as a low-budget indie film in 1984, written by Joe Ritter, Lloyd Kaufman, and Michael Herz with Kaufman and Herz directing. It spawned four sequels in the following years as well as a few comic book series and a short-lived TV spinoff. Talks of a reboot started as early as 2010, but did not come to fruition until 2021. The movie was filmed in over the course of that summer and got a ew screenings in 2023.

Sadly, the movie had trouble finding support for wider distribution, which is why it has been delayed for nearly two years. However, Cineverse got on board in January, securing release throughout the country later this year. The Toxic Avenger hits theaters on August 29th.