Spoiler alert! We discuss key plot points and endings from Furiosa: The Mad Max Saga (in theaters now) with series creator and director George Miller. If you’re new to the mechanized post-apocalyptic world, read on.
As The Mad Max Saga draws to a close, the fifth installment in George Miller’s epic 45-year-old dystopian saga, our heroine Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) finally defeats her eponymous nemesis, Doctor Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), with a steely glare.
So what’s next? Given that Furiosa is a prequel, that means 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, Miller’s madcap, post-apocalyptic film, is right around the corner. That movie starred Charlize Theron as an adult Furiosa working for Immortan Joe, the murderous leader of the Citadel and its War Boys.
At the end of Fury Road, Furiosa teams up with “Mad Max” Rockatansky, an ex-cop from 1979’s Mad Max who is still haunted by the murder of his family. With Max’s help, Furiosa kills Joe, the cruel zookeeper, in an attempt to save the few remaining women of the Vvalini tribe, who once came from the green lands of Eden but are now just part of the Australian wilderness of the future.
So does that mean we’re done with “Mad Max” without “Furiosa”? Not really. Miller, 79, gives us his thoughts on “Furiosa” and hints at what’s to come.
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Why did you choose The Queen’s Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy to play young Furiosa?
Taylor-Joy captivated audiences in 2020 when she played a chess master in the Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit,” but Miller says he’d been fascinated with her long before then. “I’d seen some of her stuff, and there was something mystical and timeless about her,” Miller said. “She’s got a real sense of authority. She reminded me of what I felt about Charlize.”
Indeed, Miller said he considered making “Furiosa” with Theron, and the uneven effectiveness of the digital de-aging process used on Harrison Ford in the most recent “Indiana Jones” films, “but the technology isn’t yet fully convincing, and I was worried audiences would focus on that rather than the performance,” Miller said.
What Taylor-Joy brings to the character in Furiosa is a visual intensity anchored by piercing eyes. She has few lines, which Miller says dovetails with her longtime passion for silent film, where she draws power from imagery and performance. “Her eyes spoke volumes,” he says.
Why does Chris Hemsworth wear a prosthetic nose in ‘Furiosa’?
Growing up in Australia, Hemsworth (who plays Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) was eager to star in Miller’s action blockbuster, and when he was tapped to play a father figure to Furiosa’s violent, evil nemesis, Miller thought it would be a good idea to tone down his burly co-star’s good looks a bit.
When Hemsworth was presented with the sketches for Dr. Dementus, the character was characterized by a “Roman-like, aquiline nose that gave it a regal air,” Miller says. Luckily, rather than being put off by the beak, Hemsworth embraced it and added the other features.
“Chris also had his teeth changed – he got veneers on them – and his eyes changed,” Miller says. “Obviously, you can add color digitally now – it’s cheap and easy – but he chose to wear contact lenses instead, which act like sunglasses so he wouldn’t have to squint in the harsh sunlight on location and take away from the mood of the scene.”
Will George Miller make a new Mad Max movie?
Miller said he “never imagined” that he would end up making another Mad Max movie, much less four, when he started the Mad Max series in 1979. Indeed, the futuristic setting that has proved durable and compelling — and now a cautionary tale of environmental collapse — wasn’t even originally planned.
“With the first film, we couldn’t afford to close roads, rent buildings or hire extras, so we had to move it from present-day Melbourne to the future and film in ruins and the desert,” he says with a laugh. “But that allowed us to make it allegorical and universal, and it was born entirely out of necessity. It was a happy accident.”
So will Max return? Miller just smiles. “In terms of where we’re going, there’s still a story about Max’s year before he meets Max in ‘Fury Road.’ I don’t want to be too ominous, but it’s a story I’m calling ‘Max in the Wild,’ and it’s about how the character of Max was formed. If the stars align, I’d love to do it.”
