The return of Max Rockatansky in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road breathed new live into the post-apocalyptic world George Miller brought to life starting with the original 1979 film starring Mel Gibson. While it will expand further with the 2024 spin-off Furiosa, the director is still interested in exploring the life of Max, himself, and what led the road warrior to the state he was in at the start of Fury Road.
Miller, alongside the cast of Furiosa, sat down with Entertainment Weekly to provide a deeper look into the spin-off that explores the backstory of Charlize Theron's character from Fury Road, now portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy. The conversation eventually found its way back to Max, himself, when Miller shared some potential plans for the former Main Force Patrol officer and his journey across the wastelands.
“In doing what we did in the preparation of Mad Max: Fury Road, we also wrote what happened to Max in the year before we encounter him in [that film],” Miller said. “And as we get towards the end of this movie, the chronology… Basically, we had to see that Mad Max was lurking around somewhere because we do know what happened. The writers know what happened to Mad Max in that year before, and we have a whole story of that, which I would like to do sometime if I get the chance.”
When audiences were reintroduced to Max in Fury Road, he appears far more animal than man after what is implied to be years wondering the wasteland on his own and carrying the guilt of all the lives he couldn't save. It remains that way for much of the early parts of Fury Road, with Max being referred to as a blood bag due to his “high-octane” blood being forcibly given to the sickly Nux.
He slowly opens up, though, thanks to his time with Furiosa and Immortan Joe's wives as he helps them attempt to flee the tyrannical warlord.
However, Miller's statements imply that Max was wondering the areas surrounding The Citadel for some time before he was captured by Joe's War Boys at the start of Fury Road. It also suggests that he could have had fleeting interactions with some of the characters Furiosa meets in her new film, which then opens the door to see a character like Chris Hemsworth's Dementus reappear, even if its only briefly.
“Furiosa Fought the World”
Furiosa, alone, is already shaping up to be an even bigger film than Fury Road in terms of world-building and exploring the post-apocalyptic wasteland Miller introduced to audiences in 1979.
The film follows the titular character starting from her childhood when she was abducted from the Green Place of Many Mothers into the hands of Warlord Dementus and his Biker Horde. Thus begins Furiosa's odyssey across the wasteland to find a way home, an odyssey that will see her beset with many trials and dragged into a war between Dementus and Joe for control of The Citadel.
Furiosa is scheduled to release in theaters on May 24, 2024.
Follow Us
Subscribe