The Furiosa prequel movie doesn’t need to replace Mad Max 5 in George Miller’s plans. The Mad Max franchise began in 1979, sending Mel Gibson on a post-apocalyptic journey of muscle cars and mayhem. After a trio of successful movies, Mad Max 4 found itself in development hell, as legal and creative issues plagued production. Arriving 30 years later, however, Mad Max: Fury Road was undoubtedly worth the wait. Starring Tom Hardy as Max and Charlize Theron as the enigmatic Furiosa, Mad Max: Fury Road kicked the franchise into overdrive – bigger, madder and bolder than ever before. Not only was Max’s glorious return more impressive visually, but George Miller had crafted a truly unique, intense experience with a gripping, meaningful story.
Given the success of Mad Max: Fury Road, calls for a sequel were inevitable, and Miller has spoken candidly about his plans for a continuation. Unfortunately, progress on Mad Max 5 has been typically slow, with reports and rumors dripping from Miller’s camp over the past 5 years without many concrete developments. Adding a slight glimmer of joy to 2020, a Furiosa prequel spin-off has now been officially confirmed by Warner Bros. Anya Taylor-Joy will replace Charlize Theron as a younger Furiosa, and the prequel’s star-studded cast will be rounded-out by Yahya Abdul-Matten II and Chris Hemsworth. Naturally, George Miller will once again sit in the director’s chair.
Following the announcement of Furiosa, some might suspect that Max has been ditched from his own franchise in favor of a more progressive newcomer, but this absolutely isn’t the case. While the Furiosa spin-off is officially the only Mad Max movie currently in the pipeline, it isn’t the only project Miller has spent the past 5 years discussing. The visionary director revealed plans for Mad Max: The Wasteland (merely a working title) as early as 2011, which would continue the title character’s story after his brush with Immortan Joe. Although further news has been quiet as of late, the sequel was still being developed as of 2019. The Furiosa prequel is the only Mad Max effort properly announced at the time of writing, but fans can rest assured that a Mad Max 5 is very likely destined to follow, and despite the delay, everything is continuing as planned.
Tom Hardy is signed on for a total of 3 Mad Max movies, suggesting a long-term vision for the character’s modern reinvention is in place. More importantly, the Furiosa spin-off has always been part of Miller’s design, intended to sit alongside Mad Max 5 rather than replace it. While discussing the future of Mad Max in 2011, Miller confirmed that two further scripts had been written – one a direct sequel to Mad Max: Fury Road and another a Furiosa spin-off, with the latter always likely to arrive between Mad Max: Fury Road and Mad Max: The Wasteland as a bridge between the two Max-centric efforts. Development on both was delayed due to further legal wrangling between George Miller and Warner Bros., but the official announcement of Furiosa confirms any obstacles have now been removed, and a Mad Max 5 announcement could arrive within the next 12 months.
Furiosa is a fascinating character that thoroughly deserves a movie of her own, but that needn’t come at the expense of Max himself, who was reinvigorated in the hands of Tom Hardy. Mad Max remains an iconic Hollywood brand, and fans will no doubt be just as keen to witness the next chapter in his story as they are the first chapter in Furiosa’s. The wasteland is big enough to explore both of these larger-than-life characters. The fact that Furiosa’s movie has switched from a spin-off starring Charlize Theron to a prequel with a younger actress is even better news for Mad Max 5, as the two stories will now take place in entirely separate timelines.
It’s no overstatement to suggest that Theron’s Furiosa stole the show in Mad Max: Fury Road, and the hype around her solo movie is already building. But despite being a man of few words, Tom Hardy’s Max remains the true protagonist of the Aussie apocalypse. His journey since Beyond Thunderdome has created an emotionally complex character that Mad Max: Fury Road barely scratched the surface of, and the decades-long question of where Max’s road ends remains tantalizingly unanswered. There’s still more than enough gas in the tank for Mad Max 5.
