Why George Miller Was Right To Recast Charlize Theron For Mad Max Spinoff Furiosa

Mad Max series creator George Miller was criticized when he announced that Furiosa would be recast in her spinoff prequel movie, but the helmer was right to avoid using expensive and imperfect CGI to de-age Charlize Theron. When Mad Max debuted in 1979, few viewers could have guessed what a massive impact the movie would have on sci-fi cinema history. Dark, brutal, and barely concerned with the trappings of its genre, for the most part, the original Mel Gibson star vehicle was a grimy revenge thriller with few sci-fi elements to speak of.

However, as the Mad Max franchise progressed, the movies grew more ambitious and began to paint a picture of an all-too-believable post-apocalyptic future. With The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome, Miller’s movies questioned what a future society defined by fuel and water scarcity would look like. The results were far from pretty, but these Mad Max movies were some thrilling sci-fi action filmmaking with a side of subtle social commentary.

Miller cranked up the commentary in 2015’s Fury Road, which recast Gibson’s stoic antihero with a younger Tom Hardy and combined elements from every earlier Mad Max villain in its unforgettable bad guy Immortan Joe. However, it was Charlize Theron’s conflicted Imperator Furiosa who stole the show and soon became the movie’s breakout character, which ensured that series creator Miller let down a lot of hopeful Fury Road fans when he opted to recast the actor in Furiosa’s upcoming prequel. Theron’s performance helped make the instantly iconic character famous, and casting Anya Taylor-Joy as her younger counterpart was deemed unfair by some franchise fans. However, Miller’s reasoning is hard to find fault with and proves that the future of the franchise is in safe hands. Ultimately, building an entire Mad Max spinoff around Furiosa isn’t something digital de-aging technology can realistically achieve yet.

Miller didn’t make the decision lightly and did attempt to find a way for Theron to play the younger version of her famous heroine. However, as the helmer put it in a 2020 NYTimes interview: “I thought we could just use CG de-aging on Charlize, but I don’t think we’re nearly there yet… Despite the valiant attempts on ‘The Irishman,’ I think there’s still an uncanny valley.” Miller is not wrong, and the decision not to jeopardize the movie by relying on imperfect technology is a wise one. Even Scorsese’s otherwise critically acclaimed gangster epic garnered criticism for its occasionally strange de-aging CGI pulling viewers out of the movie. The Stephen King adaptation It Chapter 2 garnered similar criticism, and as a horror movie, that sequel didn’t even need to look as realistic as an action movie like Furiosa.

Moreover, Scorsese’s movie was a slow-burn, subtle character piece that needed a massive budget of $175 million (previously unheard of for a small-scale drama, even one whose action spans decades) to pull off even these flawed effects. A movie like Furiosa, in contrast, will be spending so much of its budget and screen time on explosive action and large-scale thrills that also investing in de-aging CGI would likely have resulted in a cheaper, less convincing effect. It is unfortunate that the Mad Max franchise was forced to recast, but it is also the correct decision for the Furiosa prequel’s future.

About The Author

Cathal Gunning
(1448 Articles Published)

Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies and TV online since 2020. His obsessions include The Simpsons, Stephen King, the Scream series, and the horror genre in general. He has spent more time thinking about Stranger Things than the writers of Stranger Things, and he has never seen a Star War.

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