The Mad Max spin-off, Furiosa, is a go with Anya Taylor-Joy, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Chris Hemsworth all confirmed to be joining the post-apocalypse prequel. Now, Hemsworth has broken his silence about starring in the movie, with the Thor star barely able to contain his excitement over continuing the Mad Max legacy.
“Pretty damn fired up to be a part of a franchise that meant the world to me as a kid growing up in Australia. Mad Max was the pinnacle and a huge reason why I got into the business of telling stories. The fact that I’ll have the honor of not only being directed by its original visionary in George Miller but also take part in Furiosa’s origin story is incredibly exciting. Huge respect to George, Mel, Charlize, Tom and all the cast and crew who helped build this epic world. I’ll do my best to continue the tradition of cinematic badassery.”
Rumors began to circulate earlier this year that Hemsworth was being sought-after to join Furiosa, with the actor reportedly signing on to play a key figure from Furiosa’s past. According to the casting call that was leaked, Hemsworth will be playing a character named Dementus, who is described as a man in his 30s-40s, is “breathtakingly handsome”, and possesses “an angel’s face, scarred by a deep forehead wounded stitched together with shiny chrome staples.” Truly, Chris Hemsworth sounds like the perfect fit.
Anya Taylor-Joy, who will be playing the younger version of Furiosa, taking over from Mad Max: Fury Road star Charlize Theron, also commented on the news recently saying, “The first thing that went through my head when I found out I was going to do it was,’ I am so excited to work so hard,’ ” Taylor-Joy shared. “The level of commitment that has been shown before me, I endeavor to match that, and that makes me really excited.”
“I fell in love with Furiosa, the way that Charlize presented her,” Taylor-Joy added. “She did such an incredible job and it was so beautiful and I can’t even think about trying to step [into her shoes]. It has to be something different because it just can’t be done.”
Furiosa will follow the titular rebel warrior, who was introduced to audiences in 2015’s stellar action flick Mad Max: Fury Road. The prequel will explore the origin of the character long before she became the inspiring operator of Immortan Joe’s War Rig and joined forces with Tom Hardy’s Mad Max Rockatansky. George Miller is returning to co-write, direct and produce the project alongside his longtime Oscar-nominated producing partner Doug Mitchell.
Fans of Theron’s performance are understandably peeved that she will not be returning, and though Miller did at one stage hope that he would be able to bring the actress back for the prequel with the use of CGI he soon realized that the technology is not quite up to a high enough standard. “For the longest time, I thought we could just use CG de-aging on Charlize, but I don’t think we’re nearly there yet,” Miller revealed. “Despite the valiant attempts on ‘The Irishman,’ I think there’s still an uncanny valley. Everyone is on the verge of solving it, particularly Japanese video-game designers, but there’s still a pretty wide valley, I believe.”
Currently, there is no word on when production will begin on Furiosa and Warner Bros. has not yet set a release date. This comes to us courtesy of Chris Hemsworth’s official Instagram account.
