Charlize Theron’s hard-bitten heroine Furiosa was one of the biggest reasons to go see Mad Max: Fury Road, but it’s never been clear what role she’ll play in future films. Now, George Miller seems to have bad news for Furiosa fans. In an interview with Digital Spy, Miller downplayed the possibility of the character returning in any major capacity — although he left the the option open.
We might not see much Furiosa in the next Mad Max movies
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
The quote itself is, to put it generously, vague. In Digital Spy’s video, George Miller is asked if in “the next Mad Max, if we see one, will Charlize [Theron] be back?” Miller seems hesitant. “I’m not sure, is the answer,” he says. “She’s not in the Mad Max story. But one of the stories, there’s an interaction between the two. But I can’t really say more than that, because it’s still in progress.”
There are at least two sequels to Fury Road planned, which Miller says grew out of "deep backstories on all the characters," and Tom Hardy has reportedly signed on for three. So is "the Mad Max story" the script for Mad Max: The Wasteland, the working title of Fury Road's first sequel? (Theron has previously said she didn't know anything about Wasteland.) Would "an interaction" mean a cameo, or a role in a subsequent film? Does "in progress" mean this could all change during development? What if Charlize Theron is not in the story, but another actress playing Furiosa is? What if it is impossible to derive truth from language, and all words are ultimately meaningless?
Anyhow, the major takeaway is that Furiosa’s return is sufficiently non-essential for Miller to hedge pretty strongly about it. Take that as you will.
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