George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road spent so much time in development that its previous star, Mel Gibson, seemingly got too old for the action role. Gibson was replaced by Tom Hardy in the 2015 film, which went on to become one of the greatest action films of all time. Fans always wondered whether the OG Max Rockatansky would meet with the new one in any of the future installments. Miller confirmed that it wouldn’t happen and had a perfectly valid reason for it.
Mad Max: Fury Road was released in 2015 and the critically acclaimed film is yet to receive a sequel after nearly a decade. Miller has moved on to focus on the prequel film, Furiosa, where Anya Taylor-Joy will play the younger version of Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa from the 2015 film.
George Miller Confirms Mel Gibson Will Not Return To His Mad Max Role Even In a Cameo
George Miller‘s plans for a fourth Mad Max film began in 1987. However, it took years to bring his vision for ‘a continuous chase’ film to the screen. The film was indefinitely postponed after the September 11 attacks crashed the economy and affected its budget (via Time Out). By 2006, Miller confirmed that he could no longer shoot the film with Mel Gibson in the lead, as the actor was focused on his own movies and got too old for the intense action film.
Tom Hardy entered negotiations for the film in October 2009 and confirmed his casting during his appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in June 2010. Hardy actually signed a multi-picture deal for the Mad Max franchise. When Miller was asked during a 2015 interview about the possibility of bringing back Gibson, he explained why it was not a possibility.
Speaking to Deadline, Miller shared that Gibson was still Max for many people who grew up seeing the original Mad Max films. If Gibson were introduced alongside Hardy in the franchise, it would distract the audience from the current film. However, Miller admitted that Gibson and Hardy would have been a fun collaboration to watch. Miller explained with a James Bond analogy to Deadline:
“If Mel, who is Max in a lot of people’s memories, appeared in the next movie, it would pull audiences out of the movie for a bit, and we worked so hard to keep people immersed in the movie as much as possible. It would be like, I don’t know, seeing Roger Moore appearing in a Daniel Craig James Bond movie. It would be fun, but it would also pull you out of the experience of the movie.”
While Miller is right in what he said about the audience’s involvement, many films have since employed this nostalgia tactic of bringing back characters from their older movies.
Miller can take a lesson or two from Marvel who brought back Hugh Jackman‘s Logan in their upcoming film, Deadpool & Wolverine. However, it also depends on Mel Gibson’s commitment to return to his Mad Max role.
George Miller’s Furiosa Comes Out Next Month While The Sequel Wasteland Has No Updates
In his interview with Deadline, Miller confirmed that during the process of writing the Fury Road script, he had roughly developed the script for another Mad Max film titled Wasteland. The film later went into production hiatus after Miller filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. over a disputed $7 million bonus (via The Sydney Morning Herald). In 2019, he confirmed three films in the franchise were being considered, including Furiosa and Wasteland.
While Wasteland awaits an update, Miller shifted his focus to the prequel project Furiosa. He cast Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role after she nailed the lines from the 1976 film, Network. The filming took place in 2022 and the film is set for a world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2024.
Furiosa will hit theaters in the United States on May 24, 2024.
