Furiosa, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, hiding behind a post from an explosion of flames. She is holding a gun, with her long hair blowing. Her face is painted with black oil.Director George Miller reveals who will cameo as grizzled antihero Max Rockatansky in the spinoff prequel movie Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Miller rose to prominence with the 1979 dystopian action movie Mad Max, an adventure centered around a police officer-turned-vigilante in a wasteland. The movie was a global success and launched a franchise, which experienced a resurgence in 2015 with the release of prequel Mad Max: Fury Road. It starred Tom Hardy as Max and Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa, who will now lead her own movie directed by Miller.

In the upcoming Furiosa movie, Anya Taylor-Joy portrays the titular warrior woman, and it has been confirmed that there will be a cameo from Max Rockatansky. During a group interview at a special Furiosa screening that Screen Rant attended, Miller revealed that Jacob Tomuri, who was Hardy’s stuntman on Fury Road, will cameo in the role of Max. Check out Miller’s comments on the matter below:

It was Jacob Tomuri, who was Tom Hardy’s double. He also did some other stunts. He’s a New Zealand stuntman, and he was doing some other stunts on the film, and I thought, “Who better?”

What Max’s Furiosa Cameo Means For The Prequel

Max’s Cameo Could Also Hint At The Franchise’s Future

Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) looking determined and ready for action on poster for Furiosa
 Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) looks over her left shoulder at an unknown person while standing in the middle of the open road in Furiosa A bloodied Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) aggressively drives his war rig in Furiosa
Chris Hemsworth in front of bike in the sand in Furiosa A young and imprisoned Immortan Joe (unknown actor) glares at Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) in a tense staredown in Furiosa

The bond between Max and Furiosa was a key part of Mad Max: Fury Road , and featuring the former within the latter’s origin story, even if only briefly, keeps that relationship at the forefront of the franchise’s mind.

Furiosa takes place 15 to 20 years before the events of Mad Max: Fury Road and focuses on a younger version of the titular heroine battling warlords in order to find her way home. The Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga cast includes Australian star Chris Hemsworth and British actor Tom Burke, and now Tomuri in a small role. He was the obvious pick for Miller, as the stuntman knows the franchise well, has worked with the director before, and represents a nice link to the character from Fury Road.

As it is known to be only a cameo, it’s likely Max will be largely inconsequential to the story. Miller even described it as a “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo.” One positive about the Max cameo in Furiosa is that it provides franchise continuity without intruding on Furiosa’s story, freeing up the movie to focus on Taylor-Joy’s character. The bond between Max and Furiosa was a key part of Mad Max: Fury Road, and featuring the former within the latter’s origin story, even if only briefly, keeps that relationship at the forefront of the franchise’s mind.

At this stage, any further installments in the Mad Max franchise will likely depend on the box office performance of Furiosa. However, the fact that Miller has put real thought into where Max is during the events of the upcoming prequel shows he has developed a great deal of backstory for this franchise, and there could be more stories to come. Whether Tomuri’s cameo could lead to him reprising his role in another Mad Max movie in the future remains to be seen, but the character’s presence in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is certainly positive for the franchise.