In 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road introduced the world to the Imperator Furiosa, a seriously ass-kicking addition to George Miller’s Mad World who upstaged Max in his own movie.
Now the Wasteland Warrior has taken the wheel for her own Mad Max Saga. Furiosa sees Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne step into Charlize Theron’s skull-crusher boots, chronicling some 16 years in the character’s traumatic life, from her abduction at the age of 10 to her ascent through the ranks of the Immortan Joe’s army. But as Miller hints when we meet in London ahead of the film’s UK premiere, the road may not end there.
"I’ve often speculated when we see Furiosa go up to the Citadel on that platform at the very end [of Fury Road] and nod goodbye to Max who wanders to the Wasteland… I often think: 'What does she do, sitting up at the top of the dominant hierarchy? Does she fall into the trap that most revolutionaries do? You know, yesterday’s hero becomes tomorrow’s tyrant, which is classic in storytelling.'"
While Miller’s mind may one day turn to the future, he has no intention of going any further back into Furiosa’s childhood in the thriving Green Place, noting that Furiosa and Fury Road together tell one epic story.
"I’m very lucky to say that the two films kind of joined together," Miller adds to the Inside Total Film podcast and GamesRadar+. "You can almost play them as a long, extended movie. I’m not interested in Furiosa from when she’s playing in the Green Place from the age zero to 10 [laughs]. Collecting peaches, and swimming, and learning to climb, and figuring out what a motorbike is even though there’s no gasoline, and so on."
In Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the future-Imperator’s life is irreparably undone when she is abducted by the psychotic leader of the Biker Horde, Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Caught in the middle as rival Warlords go to battle, Furiosa embarks on a truly roaring rampage of revenge across the Wasteland.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will be released in cinemas across UK and Ireland, and in US theaters, from May 24. Listen to our full interview with Miller and star Tom Burke on the Inside Total Film podcast, out later this week.
For more, check out our guide to this year's most exciting upcoming movie release dates to fill out your watchlist.
