Furiosa returns: Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth cast in Mad Max prequel

Anya Taylor-Joy has been cast in the title role of Furiosa, the long-awaited prequel of George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, which will tell the backstory of the renegade character originated in the 2015 blockbuster by Charlize Theron.

Furiosa is in advanced development with Warner Bros and will also star Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, with Miller directing, co-writing (with Nico Lathouris) and producing under the banner of his Australian-based company Kennedy Miller Mitchell. Doug Mitchell will return to co-produce.

Furiosa’s was one of many character backstories developed during the 15-year making of Fury Road, Miller revealed to the New York Times in May. In fact, a second screenplay about her life had already been written before Fury Road began shooting. “It was purely a way of helping Charlize and explaining it to ourselves,” he said.

Hemsworth – who will begin filming the next movie in the Thor franchise in Australia in March – will star alongside her in Furiosa, as will Abdul Mateen II, who starred as Black Manta in Aquaman and is currently filming the fourth Matrix film.