If you thought (as we did) that Charlize Theron’s character, Imperator Furiosa, stole the show in Mad Max: Fury Road, you’ll have to watch the film again for a second dose — she may not appear in the sequels. Director George Miller told Digital Spy that of the two Mad Max follow-up films in development at Warner Bros. (a sequel and a prequel), one doesn’t feature Furiosa at all and the other includes her interacting with Max in only one scene. There’s no indication yet if that scene will remain in the final script, though.

The rumored title of the next Mad Max film is Mad Max: The Wasteland, but again, that might change before release. It will mark the fifth film in the franchise, and the second reprising of the lead role for Tom Hardy. Miller has directed all of the Mad Max films to date.

Perhaps this sad news could turn into a stand-alone Furiosa-themed film (Hollywood, are you listening?), though it seems unlikely given the state of female-driven films these days. We can always hope, though…production miracles like Fury Road itself do happen, and there’s a lot more about Furiosa and her past that we’d like to get familiar with. However, seeing how Mad Max: Fury Road could have been called Mad Furiosa: Fury Road, maybe going out on a high note isn’t a bad thing.

What‘s your reaction to the news? Will you see another Mad Max film without Furiosa? Let us witness you in the comments below.

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HT: The Mary Sue

IMAGE: Tom Blunt, courtesy of Flickr and Creative Commons