Furiosa’s Teased Mad Max Cameo Is A Bad Sign For Anya Taylor-Joy’s Spinoff

While Furiosa’s director suggested the Mad Max spinoff could feature a major cameo, this wouldn’t be a good idea for the franchise’s future. The timeline of the Mad Max movies is far from clear. 1979’s original Mad Max is set in the near future where society is beginning to break down, but the world remains recognizable. Its sequels The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome take place after an off-screen apocalypse, with civilization reduced to a few tribes of survivors who eke out a brutal existence in the desert. 2015’s reboot Fury Road didn’t make things any clearer.

It wasn’t immediately obvious whether this sequel took place before The Road Warrior or after Beyond Thunderdome, although Mad Max’s first spinoff Furiosa seemed like it could clarify this issue. The prequel, which will focus on the backstory of Fury Road’s heroine Furiosa, flashes back to earlier in the franchise timeline. However, Furiosa’s trailer revealed that the spinoff will be set after the franchise’s unspecified apocalypse, meaning the prequel won’t clarify the event any further. Not only that, but director George Miller promised a CCXP23 panel that Mad Max himself might appear in the movie, which could be disastrous.

Max Appearing In Furiosa Risks Creating A Fury Road Plot Hole

Mad Max appearing would just be a distraction

Asked about Furiosa’s setting, Miller told a CCXP23 panel that the movie takes place “15 years directly before Mad Max: Fury Road.” Miller then hinted that Mad Max could be in Furiosa, saying Max is “Lurking around somewhere in this story.” While this sounds like a fun potential crossover, the twist could ruin Furiosa’s spinoff by distracting from her storyline. Mad Max showing up in Furiosa would only confuse the Mad Max franchise timeline. After all, Furiosa’s trailer promises that the movie would take place 45 years after the collapse, but Mad Max depicted Max as a twenty-something before the apocalypse.

If Furiosa takes place 15 years before Fury Road, Max should technically be in his ‘80s by then. This sort of inconsistency is easy to ignore in a standalone classic like Fury Road, but if Furiosa draws attention to Max’s presence this could ruin the prequel. Moreover, Fury Road was primarily praised precisely because the movie focused on Furiosa’s fresh, original story more than Max’s return. As such, it would be bitterly ironic if the heroine’s own movie was overshadowed by Max’s presence, and it would be tough for Furiosa to reveal that Max and Furiosa met before without this distracting viewers.

Furiosa Doesn’t Need Max (Even If The Franchise Does)

Furiosa is confident enough to stand on her own

Tom Hardy might never return as Mad Max in a new sequel, so recasting a younger version of Max would make sense for the series. However, that’s not something that needs to happen in Furiosa. The question of whether Mad Max 5: The Wasteland needs a new star should be addressed by the sequel itself, while Furiosa should focus on its own title character. Furiosa became Fury Road’s breakout star because viewers wanted to see more of her, and the franchise’s first prequel needs to focus on this promise. Otherwise, the original hero of the Mad Max series could inadvertently derail its spinoff, Furiosa.