Furiosa is one of the most highly-anticipated sequels to date, and based on recent news, it looks like the project is shaping up quite nicely. Evidently, Chris Hemsworth will be playing an antagonist in George Miller's long-awaited Mad Max: Fury Road prequel.
Kyle Buchanan, who wrote the book Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road, recently revealed that Hemsworth will star in the Mad Max prequel as the main villain. Not only is the Thor: Love and Thunder star expected to have some epic scenes with Anya Taylor-Joy's Furiosa, but he will apparently also have a wicked name, too.
On the Blank Check with Griffin & David podcast, Buchanan claimed Hemsworth will star in Furiosa as a villain named "Dr. Dementus." Buchanan's claims match the details of a previously leaked casting call for Furiosa, which described Hemsworth's character as a man in his 30s or 40s with an angel's face, scarred by a deep forehead wound stitched together by shiny chrome staples. Fans are used to seeing Hemsworth with roughed-out features as Thor, the God of Thunder, but his role as Dr. Dementus will definitely allow him to dig deeper and show audiences his darker side.
Furiosa will center around a younger Furiosa, played by Taylor-Joy of The Queen's Gambit, before she became an Imperator in Immortan Joe's band of misfits. While Tom Hardy's Max Rockatansky won't be making any on-screen appearances, the project will still have some returning creatives, most notably Miller, who is set to return as director, co-writer, and producer, and Doug Mitchell, the Oscar-nominated producer from the first film.
When asked for more details about the film, Miller kept relatively tight-lipped. However, he did admit that it will have a lot of scenes, despite the fact that he did not set out to make it a big, epic movie. Comparing Furiosa to Fury Road, Miller said that the former is a saga that happens over many years while the latter happens over three days and two nights, so the prequel was bound to be grand from the start.
Months before his casting announcement, Hemsworth was spotted in Australia getting chicken wings at a local KFC drive-thru, so there were already rumors that he was associated with the project somehow. But to now be named the main villain of the film is a huge honor to him. Hemsworth previously said that Mad Max was a huge reason why he got into the business of telling stories, and he says he's honored to be a part of the incredible world that Miller, Hardy, and Charlize Theron have built.
Furiosa is expected to begin production soon and is aiming for a May 24, 2024, release.
Source: Blank Check with Griffin & David