Elijah Wood Looks to be Channeling His Inner Gollum for His Next Role

At this point, it’s safe to say that no one’s 2023 bingo card is holding up very well, and the emergence of a brand new Toxic Avenger film probably didn’t help anyone in that department. Toss in the fact that the same film managed to rope in such talent as Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon, and Elijah Wood, and it seems all but prudent to cut the losses, toss the card entirely, and just wait for 2024.

Of course, we’ll happily sacrifice the bingo cards if it means we get a sickly star-studded subversion of superhero movies, especially with Dinklage shoring up the eponymous titular role and Wood stepping into the shoes of … Gollum?

Okay, no, he’s not actually pulling the biggest switcheroo of the century by portraying the alternate Ring-bearer of all things; he’s actually playing Fritz Garbinger, a conniving lackey working for the film’s villains and relative to the character Bob Garbinger (portrayed by Bacon). But just look at those dark, penetrating eyes, dire hairstyle, and that uniquely obsessive, unkempt mortal essence. Surely, Wood revisited a few scenes from his claim to fame in order to get Fritz just right … right?

Well, there had to be some reason that the role was written specifically for him. In a recent interview with Collider, The Toxic Avenger writer-director Macon Blair dished on Wood’s vile character, pointing out how much he enjoyed the challenge of casting the actor against-type, and how getting the Lord of the Rings star on board was one of his easiest jobs as the Toxic Avenger gaffer.

The whole idea was to make him be unrecognizable as sweet, kind-faced Elijah Wood and just have him be as equally as monstrous as Toxie was. I wrote that part for him, and I didn’t really think about anybody else for that one. Luckily, I pitched him to Legendary, I pitched the part to him, and everybody was very quickly on board. That was the easiest.

Fritz will just be one thorn in the side of Dinklage’s Winston Gooze, who transforms into the monstrous Toxic Avenger after falling into a pit of toxic waste and subsequently sets out to enact justice on evildoers and revenge on his more personal enemies.

At the time of writing, there seems to be no confirmed release date for the The Toxic Avenger despite having premiered at Fantastic Fest just a week ago, so it’s unclear just how long we’ll have to wait for Gollumized Elijah Wood, but with a reward as gleefully backwards as that, we reckon any wait will be worth it.

(featured image: Legendary Pictures)