Imperator Furiosa. It’s a name that’s enough to evoke fear and admiration from the four corners of the Wasteland and one to have us fist-pumping all the way into Valhalla. But according to George Miller, it’s a name that won’t be appearing in the credits of his Mad Max sequel, after the director revealed that Charlize Theron’s one-armed badass won’t be reprising her role for the apocalyptic follow-up.
It was an omission that has been on the cards for some time, even if we didn’t want to admit it. Shortly after the release of Fury Road, Theron herself admitted her hesitation about returning for another blockbuster – in fear that it couldn’t emulate the original – but Miller’s comment doesn’t necessarily rule Furiosa out entirely.
[zerg]Per Digital Spy, the revered filmmaker noted that Theron simply isn’t a part of the storyline for the Mad Max sequel at this time, but there’s a chance that Theron’s kingdom-shaking heroine could return to the fray further down the line.
“I’m not sure, is the answer,” Miller said about the potential for Theron to return. “She’s not in the Mad Max [sequel] story, but in one of the stories there’s an interaction between [Max and Furiosa]. I can’t really say more than that because it’s still in progress.”
As for the actual title of the follow-up – said to be The Wasteland – Miller noted that the official moniker is still to be decided, with The Wasteland acting as a more of a placeholder than anything else.
“That name came out, that was just a working title,” he said. “Nico Lathouris and I wrote deep backstories on all the characters and they eventually became screenplays – so we have two [more movies]. I’m happy to say that there’s discussions about them right now, but I hope the next film I make is very small without any special effects and not many stunts.”
Mad Max: Fury Road is available across Blu-ray and DVD now.
