Furiosa Director Confirms Whether Tom Hardy's Mad Max Appears

As the summer movie season continues, all eyes are on "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." The long-awaited follow-up to 2015's acclaimed "Mad Max: Fury Road," the upcoming picture is set to take the franchise in a radically different direction by focusing on a young Furiosa, with Anya Taylor-Joy replacing Charlize Theron. Set about two decades before "Fury Road," the prequel follows Furiosa as she crosses paths with the devious Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Along the way, she'll (sort of) encounter Max, played by Tom Hardy in "Fury Road." While speaking with EW, director George Miller explained that "Furiosa" features a brief cameo from the character. 

"In doing what we did in the preparation of 'Mad Max: Fury Road,' we also wrote what happened to Max in the year before we encounter him in [that film]," Miller said. The director then teased how "Furiosa" might end, which could be a spoiler for some fans. "And as we get towards the end of this movie, the chronology ... Basically, we had to see that Mad Max was lurking around somewhere because we do know what happened," he said, adding that the film's writers know what Max was up to before "Fury Road." 

The director said he'd like to explore Max's story if the opportunity manifests. The outlet describes the cameo as "blink-and-you'll-miss-it," suggesting it isn't your typical fan-service-heavy appearance. Based on the timeline Miller describes, Hardy could have a small appearance.

In his interview, director George Miller is pretty vague about Max's appearance in "Furiosa." Because the film is focused on Furiosa, including Max seems extremely specific and is probably just a convenient way to tie the prequel's story into the Mad Max saga. With the film wrapping up "Fury Road" kickstarts, it's all but likely that Tom Hardy, who has strong feelings about the solo "Furiosa" flick, will have a cameo. Then again, Miller could take a bold approach and recast Max, just as he did with Charlize Theron. 

Because Miller knows what Max was up to during the final year of "Furiosa," he's eager to tell that story. While the filmmaker doesn't have the green light yet, he teased how invested he is in another EW chat. "Well, we are certainly working on it," the filmmaker said about the Max-centered film. "And as I say, we wrote that basically as a novella, and now we've got a chance, we will get that into a screenplay form, and then we'll take it from there."

While the saga's future is unclear, "Furiosa" is set to make a splash at the box office during its opening weekend. Deadline projects the picture will debut within the $40-$50 million range. Fingers crossed the prequel has enough gasoline to fuel another entry, hopefully featuring the Marvel star Miller wanted to cast in "Furiosa." 

"Furiosa" races into theatres on May 24.