Mad Max’s Furiosa Spinoff Must Avoid A Huge Immortan Joe Mistake

Furiosa will feature Mad Max: Fury Road villain Immortan Joe, and it risks making a huge mistake that’s often made with prequels. 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road marked the epic return of the Mad Max franchise, as not only was the violence and apocalyptic nature of the series turned up to 11, but the movie introduced the badass Furiosa (Charlize Theron) and the terrifying villain, Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). Immortan Joe is a warlord who runs The Citadel and is treated like a god despite using his followers, the War Boys, as expendable slaves. The iconic villain will return in the upcoming Furiosa spin-off, which could come dangerously close to misusing the character.

Though it’s still a year away, as Furiosa has a May 2024 release date, several key plot points have been revealed. The prequel will follow Furiosa, now played by Anya Taylor-Joy, as she is taken from the Green Place by the Biker Horde led by villain Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). The heroine gets caught in a feud between Dementus and Immortan Joe when the Biker Horde discovers the Citadel. This hints at the possibility of Furiosa featuring a way more sympathetic and human version of the white-haired, skull-faced Mad Max: Fury Road antagonist, which could undermine how evil he was in the 2015 movie.

Furiosa Shouldn’t Humanize Immortan Joe (Because Of Fury Road)

Given that Hemsworth is confirmed as the main villain and is playing Warlord Dementus, it’s unlikely that Immortan Joe will be the vicious warlord he’s depicted as in Mad Max: Fury Road. Furiosa’s premise even hints at some kind of event that forces a more sympathetic Joe into becoming the feared masked leader he is in the 2015 movie. However, Immortan Joe is a vile human being, and there’s no way the character can be redeemed or humanized in Furiosa without it feeling wrong. Joe is cavalier with the War Boys’ lives, he keeps his wives captive, and he’ll stop at nothing to kill anyone who crosses him.

Prequels often humanize villain characters, and it has even become a trend in Hollywood to give villains their own origin stories. Movies like Cruella and Joker totally humanize the titular character as they are depicted as broken people forced into their heinous actions by society or trauma. However, based on Immortan Joe’s actions in Mad Max: Fury Road, he was always a psychopath and there was no way a certain event could have forced him to become such a deadly and vile human being. The audience would have to outright forget that Mad Max: Fury Road exists in order to sympathize with Joe in Furiosa.

Young Immortan Joe Should Be Furiosa’s Main Villain

As Hemsworth is playing Warlord Dementus, it’s unlikely that the character is a secondary villain. That’s especially the case given that Tom Burke is likely playing Immortan Joe, as Burke is a great actor but isn’t half as bankable as Hemsworth. However, Immortan Joe should still be the main antagonist of the movie, and it could further cement him as an iconic movie villain and end the trend of humanizing serial killers in movie franchises. Furiosa could answer the mystery of whether Joe really sees himself as a god or simply manipulates others into thinking that, but either one is still extremely objectionable and should instantly demarcate Joe as a villain.