Warning! Contains spoilers for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Although I initially assumed Mad Max’s Furiosa cameo was insignificant, it eventually made me realize one tragic truth about the Tom Hardy character. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’s trailers gave me a lot to look forward to in the spin-off/prequel film — from Chris Hemsworth’s offbeat but compelling portrayal of Dementus to new insights into Furiosa’s formative years. However, even though the trailers never hinted that the titular Max Rockatansky would appear in the film, I could not help but hope that Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga would give a glimpse of what he was up to 15 years before Mad Max: Fury Road.

After George Miller confirmed the Tom Hardy character briefly appeared in the film, my anticipation knew no limits. Unfortunately, when the Mad Max cameo finally showed up in the movie, I was utterly disappointed by how fleeting and shoehorned it initially felt. However, the more I thought about it, the more I was struck by a heartbreaking realization about the character and the brilliance behind George Miller’s ability to convey a lot through minimal visual storytelling.

Furiosa Proves Mad Max Had Already Lost Hope 15 Years Before Fury Road

Mad Max’s Actions In The Cameo Underscore The Darkness That Rests Inside Him

In Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga‘s cameo scene, Max Rockatansky watches Furiosa from a distance as she looks for a safe shelter after escaping Dementus and his men. The movie then fades to the next scene, where Furiosa seemingly gets dragged somewhere by an unknown person. In the scene that follows, Furiosa suddenly wakes up in a cave with decaying dead bodies all around her. These scenes from the movie made me think of two possibilities: Max either avoided helping Furiosa despite seeing her injured, or he took her to the cave and fled before she woke up.

If the former is true, Max has already lost his humanity in Furiosa‘s timeline, making me wonder about all the extreme tragedies and pain he must have endured in the previous years to lose all hope. Given how he stands alone in the cameo scene, it seems likely his loved ones are no longer around 15 years before Mad Max: Fury Road‘s timeline, and he has nothing worth living for. He was once a noble cop but is no longer a “road warrior searching for a righteous cause.”

If the latter happened, and Max saved Furiosa before abandoning her in the cave, I cannot help but believe that it makes Max’s characterization seem even more tragic. The reason being that it shows that even though he has some humanity left in him, the wasteland and its harsh realities have calloused and broken him to a point where he is afraid of trusting anyone. He saves Furiosa but does not stick around for long because he is “the one that runs from both the living and the dead – hunted by scavengers, haunted by those I could not protect.”

I am the one that runs from both the living and the dead. Hunted by scavengers, haunted by those I could not protect. So I exist in this wasteland, reduced to one instinct: survive.

Fury Road Has Hinted Why Max Abandons Furiosa

Max Keeps Getting Traumatic Visions Throughout Fury Road

Throughout Mad Max: Fury Road‘s runtime, Max gets haunting visions of a young girl who questions why he did not protect her. Although the movie does not dive into the details of who she is, the Fury Road tie-in comic confirms her name as Glory. I had always assumed Glory was Max’s daughter because she calls him “pa” in some of his hallucinations. However, as the comic confirms, he is not her biological father. Max only saves her and her mother from a biker gang before they die in a crash when he attempts to get them away from the evil raiders.

While it is unclear where this story falls in the franchise’s overarching timeline, I can again see two possibilities: it either takes place before Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga or somewhere between Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Mad Max: Fury Road. If it happened before Furiosa‘s events, Glory and her mother’s demise likely made Max realize that no one was worth saving, which could be why he kept his distance from Furiosa. On the other hand, if it took place somewhere between Furiosa and Fury Road, it underscores how Max has consistently tried saving innocents like Furiosa and Glory but almost always failed.

Max’s Furiosa Cameo Makes Fury Road’s Ending More Profound

Fury Road’s Ending Perfectly Aligns With The Furiosa Cameo Scene

Almost every frame in Mad Max: Fury Road has been brilliantly crafted by George Miller. However, one of my favorite moments from the film is towards the ending, when, before Max disappears in the crowd below The Citadel, he exchanges a glance with Furiosa and acknowledges her by nodding at her. After seeing Max’s cameo in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, I see this silent exchange as Max accepting he can still hold on to some semblance of hope in the post-apocalyptic world.

Mad Max: Fury Road‘s closing scene also brings Max’s narrative in full circle because it shows how he has redeemed himself from his past failures. When I now rewatch Fury Road after his Furiosa cameo, I can see his lost humanity and innocence gradually returning to him as he sticks around to bid his farewell instead of vanishing as he did in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. The ghosts of Max’s past will likely keep “worming their way into the black matter” of his brain even after Mad Max: Fury Road‘s events. However, I’m sure his two encounters with Furiosa have helped him realize that hope is not a mistake.