Actors Chris Hemsworth, Anya Taylor-Joy and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will star in the Mad Max prequel, Furiosa. The prequel is based on Charlize Theron's character Imperator Furiosa from the 2015 film, Mad Max: Fury Road. Taylor-Joy, 24, will play the title role in the prequel, as a younger version of the character. In an interview in May, director George Miller said that he was in search for an actor in her twenties to play the role. He said at the time he had considered using de-ageing technology to allow Theron, now 44 years old, to continue playing the part in the prequel. However, itwas subsequently decided to rope in Taylor-Joy for the role.

In preparing the Fury Road script, Miller and co-writer Nick Lathouris had developed origin stories for every character, but not much was revealed about Furiosa's past. In the film, she is a war captain under the cruel leader Immortan Joe, but turns against him in order to free Joe's concubines. She then joins hands with Max Rockatansky, played by Tom Hardy.