When does Furiosa take place on the Mad Max Timeline?
May. 24, 2024It’s a bit complicated…
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The Mad Max timeline is a tricky beast to wrangle, but if you’re slightly confused about whereFuriosa, the latest Mad Max movie to hit the big screen, sits on it then you’re in the right place. The film from visionary director George Miller offers up a prequel and origin story for Imperator Furiosa. Set some time before the last movie in the franchise,Mad Max: Fury Road, the new outing sets up the situation that led Charlize Theron’s War Rig driver to make her grand escape from the Citadel. But just when exactly does Furiosa take place on the Mad Max timeline – and how does this fit into the ideal Mad Mad watch order?
Well, that’s where things get a little more complicated. Miller’s Mad franchise is made up of five films so far, although he does have plans for Fury Road sequel The Wasteland too. These movies take place over the course of several decades in an alternate-reality Earth, and roughly follow in chronological order, with Furiosa being the exception.
However, thanks to numerous retcons and recastings over the years, the actual Mad Max timeline is a little harder to pinpoint. But that’s where we come in. Below, we’ve broken down exactly when Furiosa takes place, as well as key details on how to watch the Mad Max films in order to get you started on your journey back into the Wasteland.
When does Furiosa take place on the Mad Max Timeline?
Still confused? Well, let’s break down all the evidence below for the key moments in the Mad Max timeline, to give you an idea when things take place. It’s important to remember too that Miller doesn’t spend much time going into the details of the timeline in the films so this is all best taken with a pinch of salt.
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1973:Before the events of Mad Max, there was the 1973 oil crisis, which contributed to the downfall of society. This was confirmed in the official Mad Max 2 document, The Preamble (you can read that here), which sets up who killed the world. This reads, “Law and order, like every other aspect of Western society, have been swept away – put to the torch early one morning when Iranian troops, trying to export revolution, struck deep into the heart of Saudi Arabia.” From here a war erupted, which set oil fields ablaze and halted exports. This led to prices skyrocketing and soon led to normal people arming themselves and preparing to defend what little they still had.
1973-1984:Society as we know it crumples, as places are looted, technology stops, and eventually highways are taken over by gangs. We learn snippets about this time throughout the films, but it’s also around then that the Main Force Patrol (MFP) was established as a way to control the roads. This is what Max works for before he goes rogue.
1984:The events of the first Mad Max take place around this time. The prologue establishes that the 1979 movie takes place a few years from that moment, and there’s a Highway 9 Sector 26 road sign that reads ‘December 6, 1984’.
1984-1987:Things decline more quickly post the first film as electrical appliances stop working and in Australia, it means the emergence of the Wasteland. A place where those brutal enough to fight for resources would start a new life.
Around 1987/1988:The sequel, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior takes place around this time. It’s established that it begins around three years after the previous movie. People have fled into the Outback as society is now in complete decay and resources become more sparse.
A new timeline is established at this point in the Mad Max films to explain cast changes and production delays, and fit better with current times. This is spawned by a new comic book that’s released to coincide with Fury Road, establishing the rebooted timeline. All of the previous events of the other movies have still happened, but later on.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is in theaters now. For more on the film, check out our guides to:
I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I’ve also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.
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