The Mad Max Timelines

[Somecrazyaussie]

Also, in Fury Road:

The tattooes on Max 2's back reveal when the "Apocalypse" occurred in the Fury Road Universe, and it matches Immortan Joe's age.

And Max supposedly remembers from before the apocalypse. Yet he shouldn't given Hardy's age. The thing to be mindful of is that Fury Road was planned and roughly outlined with Mel still in mind to play it. Obviously it didn't work out that way and Miller decided to say it was a "re-imagining". But even he has flip-flopped on that at points.

I'd have absolutely taken it as that if it weren't for those comics Warner's had DC put out. Which went to great lengths to create that connection between it and Thunderdome.

Again, there is no right or wrong answer. Just depends on how you prefer to enjoy the source material.

[Mutant 77]

The comics miniseries that served as as a companion piece to Fury Road is also canon and has some interesting stuff in it.

Interesting, yes. You can say that loud and clear. Canon? Not quite. Especially the issues focused on Max. Thunderdome 2.0, new Pursuit Special, Max still young... fantasy.

However, Furiosa will be a prequel set in the Fury Road universe, and should be even more supportive of the evident multiverse scenario.

[Somecrazyaussie]

The comics miniseries that served as as a companion piece to Fury Road is also canon and has some interesting stuff in it.

I like the Feral Kid Theory, myself. I think that Jedediah and his (adopted) son in Thunderdome were in fact the same as the Gyro Captain and the Feral Kid from Road Warrior. At some point after Thunderdome Max made his way to the Northern Tribe and re-connected with them. The Feral Kid became his protege and when Max died under traumatic circumstances, the Kid assumed his identity and his roaming ways. This is the Max we see in Fury Road.

(Note that none of this may be what George Miller had in mind.. if he says it's a re-imagining and we should really just relax, fine. But I am determined to see the Mad Max series as a continuous narrative and will deploy whatever headcanon is necessary to make it so.)

The Feral Kid theory is novel. I think people like to think the Gyro Captain is Jedediah due to the fact it's Bruce Spence playing the same role. But that's like saying Lee Van Cleef is playing the same character in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly as he did in For A Few Dollars More purely by virtue of being in both films.

[Frobisher]

They're all stories of a semi-mythical figure told at the campfire in the oral tradition, which is why not everything lines up. And also why everyone looks like Bruce Spence or Hugh Keays-Byrne, I guess.

[AndrewCrossett]

Interesting, yes. You can say that loud and clear. Canon? Not quite. Especially the issues focused on Max. Thunderdome 2.0, new Pursuit Special, Max still young... fantasy.

The comics were co-written by George Miller specifically to go with the movie, so they are undoubtedly canon. How they fit into continuity is, like Fury Road, a matter of debate.

Max is still young because it's not Max Rockatansky... it's the Feral Kid, having taken on his identity. Notice how he doesn't seem to remember ever fighting in Thunderdome before, and notice that Dr. Dealgood doesn't give any sign of recognizing him despite how memorable he was?

Even if there is no direct continuity from the original trilogy to Fury Road, I don't think there's any "multiverse" involved... just that Max is a legendary figure who is remembered differently by different people in different times.

[Mutant 77]

They're all stories of a semi-mythical figure told at the campfire in the oral tradition, which is why not everything lines up. And also why everyone looks like Bruce Spence or Hugh Keays-Byrne, I guess.

Quite frankly, the continuity in the first three movies is perfect.

The Gyro Captain and Jedediah are the same person. They also recognize each other in two instances (Jedediah sees Max unmasked in Bartertown and smiles; Max looks cleary amazed when he sees Jedediah in the Cave Headquarters and then shouts: "YOU!").

[Mutant 77]

And Max supposedly remembers from before the apocalypse. Yet he shouldn't given Hardy's age.

As simple as that, in the Fury Road Universe it was a slow and progressive apocalypse. It wasn't just an event occurring in a matter of seconds.
It was a World War Three which lasted decades.
In the prologue, Max hints at Oil Wars and Water Wars. Oceans were TOTALLY wiped out from Earth, so they used new weapons, not just nuclear ones.

Max was born in 2023. He never knew a peaceful world at all, but he lived the old society anyway. He was a cop. For a while...

[AndrewCrossett]

The Gyro Captain and Jedediah are the same person. They also recognize each other in two instances (Jedediah sees Max unmasked in Bartertown and smiles; Max looks cleary amazed when he sees Jedediah in the Cave Headquarters and then shouts: "YOU!").

Exactly.

And he was still upset with Jedediah because of his part in the sand truck trick back in the last movie.

[Mutant 77]

Exactly.

And he was still upset with Jedediah because of his part in the sand truck trick back in the last movie.

Yeah. In the Wasteland, friendship doesn't last for too long. 14 years after the events of MM2, Max just did not care about Jedediah anymore, especially since he was suspecting that Jedediah was the one who stole his Caravan Truck.

Max was sure that Jedediah had a plane, just because the guy is the Gyro Captain. Max never had the chance to see the faces of the "men" who stole his Caravan Truck in the very first place (just rewatch the beginning of MM3).
As simple as that, Max recognized Jedediah/Gyro and did two plus two. He connected the dots. He was sure because Jedediah is Gyro, and he must be the mysterious marauder who drives a plane like that.

[numberthirty]

They're all stories of a semi-mythical figure told at the campfire in the oral tradition, which is why not everything lines up. And also why everyone looks like Bruce Spence or Hugh Keays-Byrne, I guess.

Exactly...

The fact that the folks involved sold : Fury Road as "Reimagined..." or whatever?

Nothing about that rules out the that it might be the stories being told after the fact being the thing that is changing.

[numberthirty]

As simple as that, in the Fury Road Universe it was a slow and progressive apocalypse. It wasn't just an event occurring in a matter of seconds.
It was a World War Three which lasted decades.
In the prologue, Max hints at Oil Wars and Water Wars. Oceans were TOTALLY wiped out from Earth, so they used new weapons, not just nuclear ones.

Max was born in 2023. He never knew a peaceful world at all, but he lived the old society anyway. He was a cop. For a while...

Here's the obvious problem there...

What did we see that conclusively established any of that?

Could it be how things happened?

Well... Maybe.

Did we see anything that sets it in stone, as opposed to it being the story of what might have taken place being relayed after everything has happened?

I don't feel like I did...

[Mutant 77]

Exactly...

The fact that the folks involved sold : Fury Road as "Reimagined..." or whatever?

Miller, Hardy and Theron confirmed that. Miller went further, describing Fury Road as a total reconstruction of the Mad Max World.

Furiosa is part prequel, part spin-off, so I guess that more timeline differences will be addressed.

[Mutant 77]

Here's the obvious problem there...

What did we see that conclusively established any of that?

1- Immortan Joe is old, and he was a Colonel. He went affected by radiation, so nukes went dropped long time before.
2- The Citadel and that type of "new civilization" require many, many years to be properly established. Think about building those structures and vehicles.
3- Max is 37 years old.
4- The tattoo on Max's back. Further details on my website.
5- Max talks about "Oil Wars" and "Water Wars".
6- Oceans and seas don't exist anymore. Just remember what Max told Furiosa: you can drive for 160 days without spotting any water.

[numberthirty]

Miller, Hardy and Theron confirmed that. Miller went further, describing Fury Road as a total reconstruction of the Mad Max World.

Furiosa is part prequel, part spin-off, so I guess that more timeline differences will be addressed.

They confirmed that things were being reworked...

The idea that anything like "Skynet Becomes Self-Aware, And Attacks Humanity On 'This...' Date..."?

Nothing that specific ever happened.

None of what they said ruled out that this could all just be a tall tale that is evolving with the telling.

[numberthirty]

1- Immortan Joe is old, and he was a Colonel. He went affected by radiation, so nukes went dropped long time before.
2- The Citadel and that type of "new civilization" require many, many years to be properly established. Think about building those structures and vehicles.
3- Max is 37 years old.
4- The tattoo on Max's back. Further details on my website.
5- Max talks about "Oil Wars" and "Water Wars".
6- Oceans and seas don't exist anymore. Just remember what Max told Furiosa: you can drive for 160 days without spotting any water.

See any current episode of Fear The Walking Dead to watch the legs get kicked out from under Joe and how jacked up he is actually meaning anything as far as how long it has actually been.