In 2015, after three decades away from the franchise and despite a difficult production with two leads that did not get along, 70-year-old director George Miller delivered a legitimate action masterpiece with Mad Max: Fury Road. Since then we’ve been eagerly awaiting news to hear when Miller would once again return to the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Well according to a new rumor, George Miller may have found his new leads for another Mad Max movie.
Warner Bros. and George Miller are looking for new leads for the next Mad Max film and they may have their eyes on Jodie Comer and Richard Madden. That’s according to Geeks WorldWide, who report that the pair of actors are at the top of the want list to star in a Mad Max prequel film titled Mad Max: Furiosa. The report also states that George Miller would return to direct and that production is expected to begin late this year in Australia.
This should be treated as a rumor for now, and the report states that Jodie Comer and Richard Madden are wanted for the film, not that they have officially signed on. So we should take this rumor with a grain of salt for the time being and shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves thinking that Mad Max: Furiosa starring Jodie Comer and Richard Madden is a done deal. That said, this rumor is certainly something worth considering.
According to the rumor, Jodie Comer is being sought for Mad Max: Furiosa to play none other than Imperator Furiosa herself. As a prequel film, Comer would play the younger version of Charlize Theron’s instantly iconic character from Mad Max: Fury Road. It is unknown whether Charlize Theron would return would return as the older Furiosa or not.
Actress Jodie Comer’s career has taken off recently thanks to her breakout role as childlike assassin Villanelle on the TV series Killing Eve, for which she won an Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy. She also just had a cameo appearance in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as Spoiler Alert! Rey’s mother. Later this year she will prove her action chops on the big screen opposite Ryan Reynolds in Free Guy.
If this rumor bears out and both actors sign on, Jodie Comer would join Mad Max: Furiosa opposite Richard Madden. The report states that Madden would star in Furiosa as a handsome man with a huge forehead wound crudely stitched together with chrome staples.
First breaking out as the Young Wolf Robb Stark on HBO’s Game of Thrones, Richard Madden has gone on to star in the series Bodyguard and Dexter Fletcher’s Elton John film Rocketman. Later this year Richard Madden joins the MCU as Ikaris in The Eternals.
We’ve heard that Warner Bros. wants more Mad Max movies from George Miller and the director has said he has two more films in his head, one of them being a Furiosa movie. So this rumored Mad Max: Furiosa film isn’t coming out of left field. What is interesting though is the rumored casting.
Charlize Theron has stated multiple times that she’d love to come back and play Furiosa again. So it would be odd that Jodie Comer would be sought for the role instead. It’s possible Charlize Theron changed her mind, but I think the prevailing wisdom was that the actress would be returning to one of her most recognizable roles. It’s nothing against Jodie Comer, but I think that would be the preferred direction.
Perhaps it has to do with this rumored film potentially being a prequel. Jodie Comer is 18 years Charlize Theron’s junior and so Mad Max: Furiosa would be set well before Mad Max: Fury Road and rather than de-age the not at all old and completely stunning Charlize Theron, they decided to recast.
The more encouraging direction though would be a film that served as both sequel and prequel, showing Furiosa in the past and present, allowing both Comer and Theron to play her.
It’s a lot to think about, but for now it’s just a rumor. We’ll keep you updated though as we eagerly wait for George Miller to blow our minds once more. Check out our 2020 Release Schedule to see what’s headed to theaters this year and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest movie news.
