George Miller is heading back to the Wasteland in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. The Fury Road prequel will show how a young girl stolen from her beautiful home became a brutal tyrant’s greatest soldier. Furiosa won’t be the only character returning for more guzzolene-fueled fun, though. Other characters from Miller’s 2015 magnum opus will also be back. Which ones should we expect to see and what do we already know about their pasts? These are the most important characters, places, and events from Mad Max: Fury Road (as well as its canonical comic book mini-series) to remember before Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga crashes into theaters.
Immortan Joe and the Wasteland’s Citadel
Furiosa rose to the rank of Imperator under Immortan Joe, who ruled the Wasteland from his water-rich Citadel. Before the world “died” he was known as Colonel Joe Moore, a soldier celebrated for fighting in both the Oil and Water Wars that preceded the fall of civilization.
After the collapse the Colonel amassed an army of loyal soldiers. Joe eventually conquered the seemingly impregnable Citadel, becoming a living legend in the process. During his reign he built an armada of powerful vehicles and placed loyalists in charge of both an abandoned oil refinery and and a closed lead mining facility nearby.
Joe was more than just a violent, water-hoarding dictator. His people worshipped him as a god, especially his half-life War Boys. (Child members of Joe’s cult were known as War Pups.) Those loyal devotees, noted for their bald heads and white makeup, had short life expectancies due to nuclear fallout. They were happy to die in battle for Joe so they could ride beside him forever in Valhalla.
Immortan Joe’s Sons and Wives
Joe had three sons, two of whom appeared in Mad Max: Fury Road. His youngest, Rictus Erectus, was a giant, powerful, angry man with the mind of a child. Joe’s oldest son, Corpus Colossus, was small and weak physically, but intelligent. He was described as a “a man in a child’s body.”
Joe’s third son was Scabrous Scrotus, a dangerous “psychopathic killer.” He’s the main villain of the non-canonical 2015 Mad Max video game, but he also appeared in the canonical spinoff comic series based on Miller’s official backstories. Furiosa could show us why Scrotus was not around for the events of Fury Road.
Immortan Joe was determined to have a healthy son who could be his heir. Over the years he had many slave wives. Furiosa herself was one for a short time, but Joe cast her aside when he learned she couldn’t have children. Immortan Joe’s desire to have a son born without any issues caused by nuclear fallout led him to lock five healthy, beautiful young women in a biodome within the Citadel. There he raped his wives until Furiosa helped the five “breeders” escape.
The People Eater and Gas Town
Colonel Joe Moore learned about the Citadel’s secret aquifer from a former banker who nearly died before encountering Joe’s forces. The Colonel spared “The Fat Man” in exchange for the aquifer’s location. The banker then joined Joe’s group and was ultimately named warlord of Gas Town, home to an old oil refinery south of the Citadel. Gas Town, which also hosted its own Thunderdome and produced the guzzolene prized in the Wasteland.
The gluttonous, diseased warlord derived sexual pleasure from harming others. He also became known by the telling moniker The People Eater. In addition to his size and swollen feet, he was also recognizable for his business suit with nipple cutouts, fake gold nose that hid his leprosy, and a modified limousine.
He died after answering his ruler’s call to chase down Furiosa. Max Rockatansky used The People Eater as a human shield when Joe shot at him.
The Bullet Farmer and the Bullet Farm
Major Kalashnikov served under Colonel Joe Moore before the fall and as his right hand man after it as Joe led his roving gang of former soldiers. Besides Joe, Kalashnikov was the only other survivor of the small group that conquered the Citadel. Immortan Joe then named his loyal brother-in-arms as warlord of the abandoned lead mine in the west. From the Bullet Farm, which also gave the Major his new title of The Bullet Farmer, oversaw the production of ammunition, arms, and gunpowder. He also began wearing bullet-covered bandoliers, including a bullet keffiyeh-like apparatus on his head.
The fearsome and fearless (some might say mad) Bullet Farmer died while trying to capture Immortan Joe’s wives. Furiosa’s sniper shot hit the spotlight on the Bullet Farmer’s car, and the explosion of hot glass blinded the warlord. He then charged forward in his car firing indiscriminately into the night, but Max Rockatansky killed him when he got closer.
The Vuvalini of Many Mothers and the Green Place
Furiosa came from the Green Place, a verdant and beautiful land where crops could grow. It was also a matriarchal society run by the Vuvalini of Many Mothers, wise warrior women who raised the tribe’s daughters as a comunnity. Men and boys only lived in the outer swamps.
We also recommend rewatching Mad Max: Fury Road before Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga comes to theaters on May 24. But in fairness, we always recommend watching Fury Road.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist who thinks everyone should watch Fury Road at least once a month. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
