A Third Mad Max Actor Subtly Became Canon Thanks To Furiosa, Succeeding Mel Gibson & Tom Hardy

Everybody knows that Mel Gibson and Tom Hardy are the only two actors to have played Mad Max on the big screen - but Furiosa secretly added a third actor to that list. Fury Road was trapped in development hell for two decades, with director George Miller being able to generate two other screenplays and even consult on a Mad Max game during that time. Furiosa began life as an anime spinoff, but before evolving into a live-action prequel following Fury Road's success. An oft-overlooked entry in the saga was 2015's Mad Max, an underrated game that Miller has essentially disowned.

What's unique about the Mad Max movie franchise is how loose the continuity is. Trying to map out a coherent timeline among the movies is a ticket to despair, and the canon status of the video game was always shaky. It was believed to be a standalone tale that was pulled from the films without being truly connected to them. That all changed with the release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga in 2024, as the Anya Taylor-Joy starring prequel taking some key characters from the game.

Related Mad Max: How Old Max Is In Every Movie It is not easy to work out what age Mad Max is in The Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome, and Fury Road, but it can be done with some detective work.

Furiosa Made Mad Max's 2015 Video Game Canon, Creating A Third Official Mad Max Actor

Furiosa made Bren Foster part of Mad Max clubhouse

When the Mad Max game was first shown to journalists, there was controversy over the character having an American accent. In the first three films, Gibson's Max spoke with a distinct Australian twang. Taking this feedback to heart, developers Avalanche Studios cast Australian actor Bren Foster to voice Max. Foster is an actor and martial artist, who at the time was known for appearing in Steven Seagal movies like Maximum Conviction. Furiosa would later confirm the game and Foster's take on Max is canon, thanks to the appearance of Scabrous Scrotus, Immortan Joe's son, in both.

Scrotus had only appeared in the game previously, with no mention of him having been made in Fury Road. However, Josh Helman had a major supporting role as Scrotus in Furiosa, which suggests the game took place between the 2024 prequel and Fury Road; this would also explain his absence in the latter film. Furiosa also featured a cameo from Chumbucket, the mechanic who aids Max in the video game. Despite his dislike of the 2015 spinoff, Miller apparently still considered its story somewhat canonical.

Before being cast as Scabrous Scrotus in Furiosa, Josh Helman played the War Boy Slit in Fury Road.

How The Video Game Mad Max Compares To Mel Gibson & Tom Hardy

Foster's Max is still plenty Mad

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Foster voiced the titular role in the Mad Max game, while Kym Bradley provided the motion capture. The characterization of Max in the game is in keeping with the original movies; he's not a man of many words, though he does open up to his new allies. It's still strange to think of the game as linking directly to Fury Road though, as Hardy's Max is a good deal more feral and anti-social than either Gibson or Foster's take.

Bren Foster may not have gotten a chance to place Mad Max on the big screen, but his vocal performance really captures the gruffness and underlying melancholy of the character.

It should be noted the movies and games don't perfectly align - but it does slot in quite neatly as a midquel between Furiosa and Fury Road. Of course, fans are free to pick and choose what they consider canon, as Miller has always had a loose relationship with the Mad Max timeline. Foster may not have gotten a chance to place Mad Max on the big screen, but his vocal performance captured the gruffness and underlying melancholy of the character.