Anya Taylor-Joy Will Star as Furiosa in 'Max Max: Fury Road' Prequel

It's time to return to Fury Road -- or to the Wasteland years before Max Max and Imperator Furiosa took on sandstorms, War Boys and Immortan Joe, as it were. Director George Miller is officially at work on a spinoff film centered on Charlize Theron's character, Furiosa, ET can confirm.

The standalone follow-up, fittingly titled Furiosa, will be an origin story for the character, which means Theron will not actually be reprising the role. Instead, Anya Taylor-Joy will don Furiosa's buzz cut and prosthetic arm (if that's how she first appears in the prequel, that is).

Warner Bros. also announced that Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will co-star, though there were no details about what character either will be playing.

Miller will direct, co-write (with Nico Lathouris) and produce the film. His previous entry in the franchise, 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road, was nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Miller. It ultimately won six.

In The New York Times' recent oral history of Fury Road, it was revealed that Furiosa will seek answers to "questions about what the character's life was like in the idyllic 'Green Place,' why she was plucked from the group of woman warriors known as the Vuvalini, and how she became the hardened warrior we meet by the time Fury Road begins."

And though Miller revealed he considered using CGI to digitally de-age Theron for the prequel, he decided "there's still an uncanny valley." Theron has taken the news in stride, though she's admitted to The Hollywood Reporter it is "a tough one to swallow" knowing she won't return to the role.

"Yeah, it's a little heartbreaking, for sure. I really love that character, and I’m so grateful that I had a small part in creating her," she said. "She will forever be someone I think of and reflect on fondly. Obviously, I would love to see that story continue, and if he feels like he has to go about it this way, then I trust him in that manner."

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