Mad Max: Fury Road Theory Claims Tom Hardy Is Not Who You Think He Is
Few comebacks have the kind of blistering punch that George Miller's had with the 2015 action epic, "Mad Max: Fury Road." A movie that had been slowly cooking away in the director's brain for nearly three decades, the movie smashed expectations even without an appearance by Mel Gibson, the star of the previous trilogy.
However, some fans have suggested that Tom Hardy isn't playing Gibson's character at all in "Mad Max: Fury Road," but instead a legacy character from "The Road Warrior." The theory concludes that Max is actually the Feral Kid (Emil Minty) from the previous film and that he has inherited Max's title, his clothing, and his car.
Supporters of the theory point to the fact that in the latest film, Max has a tiny music box, a gift that he gave to the Feral Kid in "The Road Warrior." Fans have also noticed that Max rarely speaks in "Mad Max: Fury Road" and that when he does, he tends to do so via grunts and snorts. Finally, they point to the fact that Max seems to hesitate to give his name at first, as though he's trying the moniker on for the first time.
George Miller likes the theory but says that it's not true
Furthermore, some evidence straight from the horse's mouth could be found in a Q&A that George Miller did with Fandango (via The Nerdist). "Everything in the story has to have some sort of underlying backstory," the writer-director of "Mad Max: Fury Road" said. "Not just every character, but every vehicle, every weapon, every costume."
On the other hand, before fans get too excited about the possibility that Mad Max has swapped up more than just actors between "Beyond Thunderdome" and "Fury Road," it is worth mentioning that the theory was shot down pretty succinctly by Miller himself. The director pointed to the narration from "The Road Warrior" as proof.
"That's great... No, unfortunately, but that's a great idea," Miller told IGN. "Only because at the end of 'Mad Max 2,' it turns out the narrator is the Feral Kid as an old man, and he says, 'He only lives now in my memories,'" Miller concluded. Still, the filmmaker behind "Mad Max: Fury Road" was fine with people ascribing the theory to his universe. "You know, what's really interesting is that, in a way, these are allegories, and in many ways, the story is in the eye of the beholder," he went on. So, there you have it.
Whether the upcoming prequel, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," will generate the same kinds of enthusiastic fan theories will have to remain to be seen.