TheMad Maxfranchise nearly had a brilliant villain twist 44 years ago, and its next movie needs to finally do it properly. The nextMad Maxmovie,Mad Max: The Wasteland, had a very bumpy development. Tom Hardy, who played Max Rockatansky inMad Max: Fury Road, has given both discouraging and hopeful quotes about the film at different times, despite the fact thatHardy may be recast forThe Wasteland. The franchise has also had some trouble due toFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga’s low box office earnings, so it’s not clear if the series will continue at all.
IfThe Wastelandever does get off the ground, though, it already has a perfect plot twist that’s been waiting for over four decades to be used. There have been plenty ofgreat villains inMad Maxover the years, and it’s almost hard to imagine them getting any better. Lord Humungus (Kjell Nilsson), the main antagonist ofMad Max 2: The Road Warrior, however, almost had the best twist in the entire franchise. Though it wasn’t used inThe Road Warrior,The Wastelandcould and should still bring back Humungus' massive surprise reveal over 40 years later.
In the early drafts ofThe Road Warrior, Lord Humungus was supposed to have a secret identity.Lord Humungus' scrapped backstorywould have revealed that he was actually Jim Goose (Steve Bisley), Max’s partner on the MFP in the originalMad Max. In the firstMad Max, Goose was burned alive by Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and Johnny the Boy (Tim Burns). Max saw Goose in the hospital, charred to a crisp but alive, andThe Road Warriorwould have had him leave the hospital and start a gang of former MFP members.
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Lord Humungus proving to be Jim Goose would have been great in so many ways. Currently, the originalMad MaxandThe Road Warriorfeel like very disconnected movies. Everything from the state of the world to Max’s mental state is different, but bringing Goose back would have connected the films much more explicitly.It also would have added so much emotion and tension to Max’s final battle with Humungus, as he would have gone from a faceless war-chief to a tragic and broken former friend. It’s a shame the twist was never used, but it still could be in the future.
The twist reveal of Goose being Lord Humungus is quite simply too good to remain a fun fact. It’s the perfect way to examine the regrets Max had for abandoning his old life in favor of becoming a wandering road warrior and to give the entire franchise more consistency.Mad Max: The Wastelandwould benefit tremendously from usingThe Road Warrior’s scrapped plan for Goose. He would obviously have to be a different villain, as Humungus is definitely dead, but it wouldn’t be hard to create a new villain with an obscured face to preserve the secrecy of his identity.
Despite how perfectly it would have worked,The Road Warriordidn’t actually reveal that Lord Humungus was Goose. A few remnants of the idea remained, such as the fact that Humungus' gang has so much MFP equipment, but the final cut of the movie didn’t have any references to Goose.George Miller ultimately decided to remove Lord Humungus' surprise backstory because he wasn’t confident enough people had seen the originalMad Maxto recognize Goose and understand the twist. The originalMad Maxwas an unexpected hit, but it only earned $8 million worldwide, and it was still a relatively little-known film in 1982.
The original Mad Max is now a classic: millions of people have seen it themselves, and millions more at least have a passing knowledge of what happened in it and who Goose is.
While George Miller likely made the right call by cutting Goose out ofThe Road Warrior, the issue of fans recognizing him won’t apply anymore.Mad Maxis one of the biggest and most iconic action franchises in film history now. The originalMad Maxis now a classic: millions of people have seen it themselves, and millions more at least have a passing knowledge of what happened in it and who Goose is.IfMad Max: The Wastelandwants to include Jim Goose as a twist villain, most viewers would at least somewhat recognize him and understand the gravity of such a twist.
Mad Max: The Wasteland
Release Date TBA
There’s likely never been a better time to make Goose a villain in aMad Maxmovie.After Mel Gibson was recast with Tom Hardy inMad Max: Fury Roadand Anya Taylor-Joy replaced Charlize Theron inFuriosa, fans of the franchise are more than comfortable with new actors stepping into the shoes of old characters.Furiosaalso showed that George Miller is interested in diving into the backstories of his characters, which could mean he’d be willing to do the same with Max. With any luck, the nextMad Maxfilm will be his chance to do so.
Mad Max
Mad Max is an Australian post-apocalyptic franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. The first three films star Mel Gibson as Max Rockatansky, a former police officer who seeks revenge after his family is murdered. Tom Hardy took over the role for 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, which was followed by Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa.
