Furiosa: Chris Hemsworth reportedly playing villain in Mad Max prequel

By the time Furiosa finally hits theaters, it will have been nearly a decade since the last Mad Max movie, but I’m certain it will be well worth the wait. The prequel that will chart the origins of Imperator Furiosa before she became one of Immortan Joe’s war captains and met up with Max Rockatansky in the 2015 film. Anya Taylor-Joy will be playing Furiosa in the Mad Max prequel, which will also star Chris Hemsworth and Tom Burke, who was brought in to replace Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

Details about the film are scarce, but in regards to Chris Hemsworth’s character, it seems that he might be playing against type as the lead villain of the movie. In an excerpt from author Kyle Buchanan’s book Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road, (via /Film), producer P. J. Voeten shared some details about how director George Miller cast Hemsworth.

George saw Chris [Hemsworth] initially as a courtesy and then fell in love with the idea. He’s going to play totally against type, the lead baddie. Unfortunately, we’ve got to find all of our other characters that aren’t around anymore: a new Immortan [Joe], a new Bullet Farmer, and a few others.

There have been rumblings that Chris Hemsworth might be playing the villain in the Mad Max prequel. While appearing on the Blank Check podcast last month, Kyle Buchanan said that he had heard Hemsworth would be playing a villain called “Dr. Dementus.” Certainly sounds like a Mad Max name to me. Voeten has also teased that you shouldn’t go into Furiosa expecting a retread of Fury Road as the prequel will be “more of a traditional three-act drama. If people are expecting to see another chase movie, it’s not going to be that.“

Furiosa is currently slated for a May 24, 2024 release.