The Mad Max: Fury Road prequel, titled Mad Max: Furiosa, will focus on the origins of Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa character, and the Furiosa Mad Max spinoff updates are coming in quick. 2015’s critically acclaimed Mad Max: Fury Road was the fourth installment in George Miller’s Mad Max universe, and it introduced the badass IMperator Furiosa, who often stole the show from the titular character. However, the origins of Furiosa weren’t fully revealed. Furiosa is a war captain working for leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) but betrays him to free Joe’s concubines and forms an alliance with Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy).
While Max is the title character in Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa is the de facto protagonist, and the movie centers around their relationship. The prequel Mad Max: Furiosa is closer to release than ever before, with production fully underway and a confirmed release date. Mad Max: Furiosa will be directed by George Miller, who is co-writing and producing with his longtime producing partner Doug Mitchell. Because the movie is a prequel, Charlize Theron will not be returning to the role, and despite the movie not having any official images or videos released, there are still tons of Furiosa Mad Max spinoff updates.
The Latest Mad Max: Furiosa News
While promoting her role in The Menu in late 2022, Anya Taylor-Joy remarked that her role as Furiosa is, “the dirtiest and the bloodiest I have ever been.” While the Mad Max franchise has a reputation for showcasing the gritty violence of an apocalyptic landscape, the earlier movies in the franchise, which began in 1979, didn’t actually include a lot of on-screen violence. Mad Max: Fury Road, on the other hand, was the bloodiest, which means Furiosa might surpass that installment when it comes to brutality and gore.
Furiosa Mad Max spinoff updates arrive in the form of on-location photos featuring Taylor-Joy with a CGI sleeve over one arm, indicating Furiosa may already be missing an arm in what’s being dubbed her origin story. Viewers of Mad Max: Fury Road might have been interested in learning how Furiosa lost her arm, but that might not be part of her story here. In the past, George Miller and original Furiosa actress Charlize Theron discussed why the audience didn’t need that backstory. The loss of an arm didn’t define Furiosa but was just a part of her, and it appears that Mad Max: Furiosa could follow that same idea.
Charlize Theron has finally voiced her opinion about being recast, and she’s in extremely positive spirits about Taylor-Joy replacing her, even though Theron once said that Furiosa was one of the most important roles she ever played. Theron “can’t think of a better actress” to replace her, adding, “I met her years ago and I haven’t really been around her at a function or anything like that… I think she’s going to be totally OK. Without talking to me, she’s going to be absolutely fine.” Actors replacing other actors in particular roles often meet to discuss the character, and though that never happened, Theron still has faith in Taylor-Joy.
Mad Max: Furiosa Release Date
In October 2020, Mad Max: Furiosa was originally confirmed as in development and announced with a 2023 theatrical release. Delays in the production process and shuffling of the Warner Bros. release schedule, however, caused the movie to be pushed back. In September 2021, Warner Bros. announced a new release schedule for several movies, and the Furiosa Mad Max spinoff was one of them. The apocalyptic-set Mad Max: Furiosa is now set to release on May 24, 2024, putting it on the screen just in time for Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., which is traditionally a big kick-off in blockbuster movie releases for the summer.
The movie will likely land on a streaming platform later that same year. Most of the Warner Bros. new releases have been available to stream on HBO Max shortly after their theatrical debuts for subscribers, but that could change with the Warner-Discovery merger as well.
Mad Max: Furiosa Cast
Anya Taylor-Joy will be taking over the part of Imperator Furiosa from Charlize Theron after George Miller announced that Theron would not be reprising her role. Taylor-Joy previously appeared in The Northman and The Queen’s Gambit, as well as the long-delayed New Mutants. Chris Hemsworth (Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, Watchmen) were both initially announced in undisclosed roles. Hemsworth is said to be playing Furiosa’s villain, but since the movie is thought to depict the power struggle between two potential villains, one of which is Mad Max: Fury Road’s Immortan Joe, he could play either of the two characters.
When Abdul-Mateen had a scheduling conflict after the movie’s filming date was pushed back, he had to leave the project. The role he vacated went to Tom Burke, known for his roles in BBC projects such as the network’s recent War & Peace miniseries. Like Hemsworth, Burke could be playing either of the warlords that are part of Furiosa’s story. However, there will be a couple of familiar faces too. Mad Max: Furiosa will feature Nathan Jones and Angus Sampson, who played Rictus Erectus and the Organic Mechanic, respectively.
The most recent Furiosa Mad Max spinoff update unfortunately isn’t a positive one, as Nicholas Hoult revealed that he isn’t returning as Nux, the eccentric Way Boy member in Mad Max: Fury Road. Hoult sarcastically explained, “Obviously as a prequel, it’s earlier. Nux would’ve maybe just about been born and I don’t think I could play a six-month-old or a year old. It would be a stretch for me.” However, he could still have played a totally different character just like how Immortan Joe actor Hugh Keays-Byrne played Toecutter in the very original Mad Max.
Mad Max: Furiosa Story Details
Mad Max: Furiosa will still feature Immortan Joe, but it will follow Furiosa after she’s been kidnaped from the “Green Place of Many Mothers.” Furiosa ends up in a Biker Horde led by a warlord named Dementus. Dementus and his bikers travel through the Wasteland, only to find the Citadel where Immortan Joe is in charge. Furiosa will be caught in their battle for power in the movie.
Though the audience knows where Furiosa ends up in Mad Max: Fury Road, the journey to get there will still be an interesting one. Despite the rough and immoral nature of the Wasteland, Furiosa still holds her morals intact and strives to protect those around her. Mad Max: Furiosa will showcase how she maintains the strength to do so.
According to Taylor-Joy, Mad Max: Furiosa is way more epic than Mad Max: Fury Road. Where the 2015 movie was ultimately a road trip that took place over three days, the prequel takes place over a much longer period of time. Taylor-Joy explained, “This is an epic. This takes place over a long period of time, and you kind of get to know [Furiosa] better in that way. I love that character so much. That whole experience was mind-boggling.” While the prequel will likely still feature tons of car chase mayhem, it sounds like there’ll actually be time for audiences to catch a breath this time around.
Mad Max: Furiosa Trailer
Because Mad Max: Furiosa is still in post-production, and another Mad Max movie hasn’t entered production yet, there currently aren’t any trailers for any new Mad Max movie. With a release for Mad Max: Furiosa in mid-2024, there’s a good chance that fans will get, at the very least, a teaser trailer by the end of 2023. A full-length trailer for the Mad Max spinoff for Furiosa will likely land in early 2024.
Will There Be More Mad Max Movies?
Outside of Furiosa Mad Max spinoff updates, while George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris worked on Mad Max: Fury Road, they had a lot of extra material that didn’t make it into the final script. That extra material was worked into two scripts, one for the Mad Max: Furiosa spinoff, and another for a project with the working title Mad Max: Wasteland. Wasteland might not end up as the final title of the script, and there’s no word yet on what the movie will be about other than it’s set to be a sequel to Mad Max: Fury Road. So, there will be at least one other movie in the Mad Max universe.
