Hardy talks Mad Max

Despite what the trade announcements claimed about the casting, there seems to be some question as to precisely who Tom Hardy (BRONSON, ROCKnROLLA) will be playing in George Miller’s MAD MAX sequel FURY ROAD. In fact, even Hardy doesn’t know.

As he evasively tells MTV: “If I get offered it and George really wants to go with me, then George will tell me exactly what he wants to do and we’ll work together on the floor to create what it is that he wants to achieve. And I hope I can get that done for him.”

But Hardy admits that his meetings and involvement never hinged on playing the famous road warrior in particular: “The audition process had nothing to do with Max and nothing to do with the story or the script. It was unorthodox to the point where actually I could have been auditioning for anything. It was an anonymous read. [Miller and I] haven’t actually gotten into the conversation at all about Max.”

This is contrary to initial reports that Hardy would indeed slip on the leathers as the new Max in the sequel, reportedly set “a short while after the story detailed in 1985’s MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME, which keeps Mad Max relatively young.” (Charlize Theron is also attached.)

But there still remains the question of whether Mel Gibson is secretly returning and everyone is just being coy about it. The consensus from fans seems to be that the movie shouldn’t be made without Mel as Max, but we’ll see if the character’s creator agrees…