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Elijah Wood is barely recognizable in unsettling transformation for new movie

Elijah Wood is barely recognizable in unsettling transformation for new movie

The Lord of the Rings actor is due to star in his first feature-length movie since 2021.

Film fans are shocked by Elijah Wood’s chilling transformation as he debuts a new look ahead of his first film in two years.

The Lord of the Rings actor has been turning to TV in the last couple of years - having recently starred in the likes of I’m a Virgo, Yellowjackets and Apple+ TV favourite, The Afterparty.

However, it has been confirmed that Wood will be back on the big screen soon, and he’s being joined by Game of Thrones Peter Dinklage and Kevin Bacon.

The trio are set to appear in Macon Blair’s upcoming black comedy movie The Toxic Avenger.

Elijah Wood is set to star in the reboot of The Toxic Avenger.
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic/Getty

A remake of the 1984 film of the same name, the upcoming flick will serve as the fifth instalment in The Toxic Avenger film series.

The movie sees an industrial incident maiming a janitor named Winston Gooze (Dinklage), who undergoes a horrifying transformation.

“There is a terrible industrial accident that renders him a mutant and an outcast, but also gives him some super strength and super abilities that sets him on a path of being an unlikely vigilante in this downward-spiraling society,” says Blair.

Excitingly, Wood is set to play villain Fritz Garbinger - a character described as ‘sort of Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Danny DeVito Penguin mixed together.’

The actor is set to play villain Fritz Garbinger in the upcoming movie.
Legendary Pictures

In a new image, shared with Entertainment Weekly, the 42-year-old has been transformed with dark-set panda eye make-up, and black hair sprouting from his almost-bald head.

Speaking about the look, Blair said: “The look came about by discussions I had with our designers and with Elijah himself.

"I wanted it to feel like a Peter Sellers type of performance where he just goes invisible.

"The idea is that you forget that it's the Elijah that you know from Lord of the Rings or anything else."

Following the pictures being posted online, fans have been having their say on Wood’s dramatic transformation.

One viewer wrote: “He is looking more Penguin than Penguin.”

“Smeagol just before he went full Gollum,” commented another.

A third said: “Can't wait for this! Such a bizarre story and the cast makes this that more exciting.”

Elsewhere, another X user said: “Elijah Wood went from Frodo Baggins to Grima Wormtongue in just 20 years.”

At this time The Toxic Avenger is yet to be tagged with an official theatrical release date.

Featured Image Credit: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic/Getty/Legendary Pictures

Topics: Film and TV, Entertainment, Celebrity, Lord of the Rings