Furiosa Surprisingly Confirms 1 Underrated Mad Max Story As Canon 9 Years Later

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and the Mad Max video game.

Summary Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga canonized a surprising story, bringing clarity and coherence to the franchise's timeline.

The Mad Max video game is now considered canon, and it bridges some gaps in the story between Furiosa and Fury Road.

Director George Miller and creators reportedly view the game as part of the official canon, adding depth and context to the franchise.

The lore of the Mad Max franchise has never been entirely clear, but Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga canonized one surprising story nine years after it was released. The Mad Max franchise has had a very confusing timeline ever since it was created. The first three movies, starring Mel Gibson as the titular character, didn't directly follow each other, and acted more as loose legends surrounding the idea of "the Road Warrior." Mad Max: Fury Road didn't help with that problem, as it recast Max and acted as a soft reboot for the entire franchise, which made the Mad Max timeline even more uncertain.

As a product of that uncertain timeline, it was often hard to discern which Mad Max stories were canon and which weren't. Furiosa recently cleared up some of that confusion and made a more cohesive timeline, and in doing so, it changed another story's status in canon. This decision came as quite a surprise, as the story that Furiosa canonized had been one of the few stories that was known to be non-canon for nearly a decade. With the new movie, however, it fits nearly perfectly into Mad Max's lore, and the franchise is better for having it.

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The Mad Max Video Game Fits With Furiosa’s Canon

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Ever since it was first released in 2015, the Mad Max video game has been in a strange classification with regard to its status in the franchise's canon. For years, it was widely considered to be just a spinoff, and that its events didn't affect the movies, particularly Fury Road. Now, however, the Mad Max game fits into the franchise's canon, thanks to some lore reveals from Furiosa, the Mad Max cameo in Furiosa, and one character in particular.

Scabrous Scrotus was the main antagonist of the Mad Max video game, but he never appeared in Fury Road, and no one made mention of him. Many used that as evidence that the game was non-canon, but now, Furiosa brought Scrotus to live-action in a way that fits almost perfectly with the game. There were a few major lore reveals in the game, and one of them established that Scrotus defeated Dementus in battle. Dementus' death was slightly different at the end of Furiosa, but they did wage the 40-day Wasteland War against each other, and Scrotus could have simply taken credit for Furiosa's accomplishment.

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Outside the story itself, it seems that director George Miller and the other creators of Mad Max also consider the video game canon. A post from Drew McWeeny, who read the script for Furiosa, claimed that the notes in the script "make it clear the Mad Max video game is canon." That does seem to be the case, as the Mad Max game offers quite a bit of valuable context to both Furiosa and Fury Road. The new movie even includes some key elements from the game, such as the character Chumbucket, who made a brief appearance when gave Furiosa a car towards the end.

The Time Between Furiosa & Mad Max: Fury Road Was Depicted In The Mad Max Video Game

While Furiosa does a great job of filling in the time before Fury Road, it didn't completely flesh out the Mad Max timeline, and there was still quite a bit that happened between the two movies. Now that the game is canon, though, that gap has been almost completely filled. The Mad Max game explains so much of what happened between Furiosa and Fury Road, and it even establishes that Max killed Scrotus between the movies, which explains his absence. The game doesn't just complete storylines that were left open-ended in Furiosa, though, it also gives better context for Fury Road.

Much Of Fury Road’s Backstory Is Hidden In The Mad Max Game

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Fury Road seemingly picks up right in the middle of an ongoing story, and the game confirms that's exactly what happened. At the start of Fury Road, Max was seemingly wandering aimlessly, he was experiencing terrifying visions, and his iconic black Interceptor was in such bad shape that it couldn't outrun a few War Boys. The Mad Max game explains each one of those details, as Scrotus had nearly totaled the Interceptor, Max was searching for the Plains of Silence, and he had nearly lost after the deaths of Hope and Glory, the mother and child who appeared in his visions.

Now that the Mad Max video game is canon, one of the best stories in the entire franchise can be considered official.

The Mad Max game also does quite a bit to explain the world of Furiosa and Fury Road, as the game explores several parts of the Wasteland that the movies didn't have time for. This includes factions like the Buzzards, who were featured but not heavily focused on in the movies, as well as settlements beyond the Three Fortresses of the Wasteland. The game even adds some variety to the Wasteland, as it added environments like sulfur flats, canyons, caves, and more to the largely arid Wasteland.

Now that the Mad Max video game is canon, one of the best stories in the entire franchise can be considered official. In addition to what the game does for the Mad Max movies, it also brings in several elements and characters that were only featured in the game. This means beloved characters like Chumbucket and interesting new areas of the Wasteland could be explored in upcoming Mad Max movies. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is great on its own, but the fact that it canonized the Mad Max video game makes it an even better addition to the franchise.

Source: Drew McWeeny