Director George Miller has brought to life four Mad Max films over 35 years. But his most recent version, Mad Max: Fury Road, became the fan-favorite upon release in 2015. And most of that had to do with the portrayal of the incomparable road warrior known as Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron.
Miller has gone on record about hopefully making a prequel movie about a young Furiosa. But what about the post-Fury Road life of the adult version? In an interview with Josh Horowitz (via The Hollywood Reporter), Miller revealed some tidbits about how he thinks Furiosa’s life turned out.
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Miller contends that a post-Immortan Joe world where Furiosa resides over a utopia is a possibility. But he also thinks things might go down a darker path. And it seems that idea interests him more. Writer Joseph Campbell, who greatly inspired George Lucas when creating Star Wars, was an influence. Miller cites Campbell, saying, “The hero is the agent of change. They basically relinquish self-interest in order for some common good.” He continued, saying “You become holdfast. You become the orthodoxy. You develop the dogma and basically then you have to protect it. That tends to be the rhythm of these things.”
Miller ultimately has a hard time believing Furiosa would ever become a tyrant herself, though, indicating he’s torn as to her ultimate future. “I think she’s too smart to fall into that trap. [Furiosa has] already seen it with the Immortan Joe. I believe he went through the same process. He was probably a heroic character in his own time.” Imagine Charlize getting to go the Anakin Skywalker route, as a hero who falls to the dark side consumed by her own quest for maintaining power. It’s tantalizing to think about.
Miller reveals even more about the genesis of Fury Road, in this hour-long conversation with Horowitz. This conversation, which you can view above, is a mash up between MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast and the new Metaverse online convention. Miller fields questions from not just Horowitz, but also respected directors like Rian Johnson, Patty Jenkins, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and M. Night Shyamalan. While it’s unlikely we’ll see the further adventures of the adult Furiosa, it’s interesting to ponder the maybes. And in this world, who knows? For a long time, a Mad Max 4 seemed impossible!
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