Gibson did not return as “Mad” Max Rockatansky in “Fury Road.” The Entertainment Weekly article claims it’s because he was deemed too old (being in his mid-50s by the time the movie entered production). Gibson’s personal controversies, including some very ugly and public racism, didn’t help his case either.
As Hemsworth tells it, he wanted to play Max but at the time (“Fury Road” entered pre-production in 2009), he just wasn’t a big enough star. He had a regular role on Australian soap opera “Home and Away” and a small part in 2009’s “Star Trek” as George Kirk. With that resume, he “couldn’t even get a call or a meeting or anything.” Instead, Tom Hardy (who’d made waves in Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2008 film “Bronson”) played Max. Hemsworth wasn’t a sore loser though, and when he watched “Fury Road,” it only increased his desire to work with Miller. When “Furiosa” was being made, Hemsworth’s star had been lifted by the Mighty Thor. Thus he got the meeting and, ultimately, the job.
Going by the “Furiosa” trailers, it’s Dementus and his gang who steal Furiosa from her childhood home, the Green Place. The film could easily pull a fast one on us, but it’s looking like Furiosa’s main obstacle is not “Fury Road” villain Immortan Joe, but Dementus. Furiosa might even ally with Joe against their common foe, explaining why she’s working as his Imperator in “Fury Road” (though she ultimately, and deservedly, betrays and kills him). Can Hemsworth give a heel performance huge enough to eclipse the late Hugh Keays-Byrne, the original Immortan Joe actor in “Fury Road”? We’ll know soon.
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” premieres in U.S. theaters on May 24, 2024.
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