Furiosa is a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, but it will feature one huge difference from the previous film. Fury Road, which came out in 2015, was the first film in the Mad Max franchise since 1985's Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Featuring Tom Hardy stepping into the title role originally played by Mel Gibson, the film introduced the intrepid Imperator Furiosa, a post-apocalyptic warrior played by Charlize Theron.
Taylor-Joy recently appeared on Total Film's podcast to talk about her lead role in the Furiosa prequel, which is due in theaters on May 24, 2024. She revealed that, while the character originated in Fury Road, which is a chase movie that takes place over a short period, Furiosa will be a very different beast. She describes the film as an "epic," saying that it will follow the character over a much larger period of her early life leading into the events of the 2015 film. Read her full quote below:
The main thing that George and I spoke about was that Fury Road is a road movie. You know, it takes place over, I think, three days: getting somewhere, and then turning around, and coming back. And 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, and George is the best. I hope that [people] enjoy it.
Furiosa is Continuing a Longstanding Mad Max Tradition
Despite its obvious ties to Fury Road, Furiosa will have an identity all its own. This includes an entirely new set of characters, though some returning cast members including Nathan Jones and Angus Sampson will be playing younger versions of their characters. One of the most important new characters is a villain played by Chris Hemsworth, about whom little is currently known.
Given its new ensemble and completely different scope, Furiosa will likely feel very little like Mad Max: Fury Road. Although it will still feature direction from George Miller and plenty of car-based action mayhem, it won't resurrect the specific propulsive atmosphere from that film. However, that is exactly what keeps it in step with the rest of the Mad Max franchise.
No entry in the franchise has exactly squared with the tone or content of the previous entry, even before Fury Road did a complete revamp of the universe after a gap of several decades. The original Mad Max's pre-apocalyptic anarchy felt very different from its post-apocalyptic sequel The Road Warrior, which in turn had little in common with its more bombastic Beyond Thunderdome. Considering this, Furiosa fits perfectly within the Mad Max universe entirely because it is carving out its own identity
Source: Total Film
