2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road was a smash hit on every level, going down as one of the best action movies of the past decade, but maybe the number one highlight was Charlize Theron’s Furiosa, who stole the show away from Tom Hardy in the title role. Fans have been desperate to see more of the character ever since, and now it’s finally happening, as Deadline has announced today that Warner Bros. is officially moving forward with prequel Furiosa.
Anya Taylor-Joy will be taking over the part of the renegade antiheroine from Theron in the film, which will chart the origins of the character long before she encountered Max Rockatansky. Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II are also on board in currently undisclosed roles, and George Miller is returning to produce, co-write and direct, following his helming of all previous installments in the franchise. Nico Lathouris will pen the script with him, while Miller’s longtime producing partner Doug Mitchell is likewise involved.
We’ve known that a Furiosa prequel has been coming for the past year, with many of these casting announcements following on from earlier reports. For instance, Hemsworth and Abdul-Mateen II were revealed to be in talks to board the project over the summer, while Taylor-Joy was said to have auditioned for the lead back in the spring.
Of course, there was some controversy when the news first came out about the prequel, as many people weren’t sure they would be able to accept a different Furiosa. This only intensified after Theron admitted that it was “heartbreaking” that she was being replaced in the role she originated. To be fair, though, it’s clear that Miller wants to tell a story of a much younger take on the one-armed war captain, so recasting does make sense. The news of Taylor-Joy landing the gig is going down well on social media so far, too.
Tell us, though, are you hyped for a Mad Max spinoff about a young Furiosa? Join the conversation in the comments section down below.