How Chris Hemsworth And Director George Miller Cooked Up Furiosa's Wild Villain [CinemaCon 2024]

Since the "Furiosa" trailer first released in November 2023, one of the top questions on most fans' minds was exactly what the deal was with Chris Hemsworth's character, Dementus. From the trailers, he sure seemed like an antagonist, but he also felt a little too cool and fun to be a straightforward villain. Chris Hemsworth is always likable, after all, especially when he gets to use his native Aussie accent. At Warner Bros.' CinemaCon 2024 presentation in Las Vegas, attended by /Film's own Ryan Scott, director George Miller shed some light on creating the new villain Dementus for the upcoming prequel film, as well as his thought process on hiring Hemsworth for the role. 

"There needed to be an element of charisma" to this character, Miller said. "There had to be a spontaneity and a darkness to it," so Hemsworth took inspiration from dictators throughout history. Of course, Marvel fans have long known that Hemsworth can be charming — it's what made Thor such a fan-favorite even when his standalone movies weren't universally beloved — but the darkness part should hopefully feel fresh and surprising to mainstream viewers. Hemsworth has taken Thor to some dark places throughout the MCU, but rarely has he acted like an intimidating villain.

Miller also talked about how he had a tough time finding the right actor to play Dementus, before having a "far reaching and multi-leveled" conversation with Hemsworth which convinced him the guy was right for the job. By the sound of it, Miller wasn't pressuring Hemsworth to take the role, nor was Hemsworth over-eager to take it; the opportunity simply felt right to both of them. "In the process, the characters emerged," Miller explained.

Hemsworth himself also spoke at the panel, praising the movie's smooth production process: "I've never been on a set that felt both intimidating, loud, noisy, exhausting, and yet completely safe and in control." Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays the young Furiosa, seems to have shared the same experience, and promised a film that was just as practical effects-driven as 2015's totally wild "Mad Max: Fury Road." "George is fully running and completely in control of three full units," she said. "Everything on screen has been hand-painted by George."

George Miller also shed light on how Furiosa's story was written, stating that all the basic plot points here were already thought up before "Fury Road" was in production. "In order to tell the story in 'Mad Max: Fury Road,' we had to know everything that happened" before it, he said, adding that while that movie only took place across a few days, this story will span "across 16 to 18 years." It seems he and his team hadn't just put plenty of thought into how Furiosa was taken from the quasi-mythical Green Place, but they'd already long considered how she lost her arm and became the stoic war rig-driving badass we know and love. 

From the stage, Taylor-Joy paid tribute to Theron's original portrayal of the character; a performance so captivating it not only overshadowed the titular character, but had fans clamoring for the origin movie we're getting now. "This is the story of one woman's relentless commitment to impossible hope," Taylor-Joy said. "It was such an honor to play this character."

"Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" drives into theaters on May 24, 2024.