Charlize Theron’s Furiosa might not be in the next Mad Max

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The many of you who thought (perhaps correctly) that Tom Hardy’s Max Rockatansky got the short shrift in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD might well jump for joy at the following news. In an interview with Digital Spy, director George Miller revealed that his proposed sequels to FURY ROAD may not feature much of Charlize Theron’s badass Furiosa, who owned much of that film’s spotlight.

I’m not sure, is the answer… She’s not in the Mad Max [sequel] story, but in one of the stories there’s an interaction between [Max and Furiosa]. I can’t really say more than that because it’s still in progress.”

While it wouldn’t surprise me if Max played a more crucial role in the next film, the idea that Furiosa will only be present for “an interaction” would surprise me. For every person who was dismayed to find that Theron’s heroine was the lead character in FURY ROAD, there were two who weren’t bothered by Miller’s decision, especially considering how excellent Theron’s performance is and how interesting the character turned out to be. (And, oh yeah, the movie is f*cking great.) Maybe she’s held at bay throughout much of the next film only to make a valiant return at the conclusion, foreshadowing another epic Max/Furiosa team-up? That’s just my own fanfic there, but I really find it hard to believe she’s simply going to be relegated to the sidelines moving forward.

We’ll have to wait and see how this plays out; naturally, another MAD MAX movie hasn’t even been given the go-ahead, and Miller appears intent on making a smaller-scale film before even jumping back into that world.