George Miller

George Miller pulled off nothing short of a miracle with Mad Max: Fury Road, taking $150 million off to the desert and returning with a powerful, visually sublime action film that is rightfully being hailed by many as one of the best in years — if not decades. While we wait to find out if Miller’s proposed sequel will be given the green light, a new rumor indicates that he may be in line to direct a different sequel for Warner Bros.

ScreenCrush’s Comic Strip is a weekly roundup of the hottest superhero movie/TV news items. From Marvel to DC and points in between, if it pertains to costumed comic book heroes, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. This week, check out art from the Justice League movie that never was, learn the latest on who may be playing Spider-Man, and see why you won’t be watching any more Suicide Squad set videos.

Mad Max: Fury Road isn’t your average post-apocalyptic film, nor is it your average action movie, as I’m sure you know by now. Although the first set of promo photos from the film were de-saturated and had a more conventionally gritty look, the final product was gorgeously vibrant. But according to director George Miller, his preferred version ditches that bright, beautiful coloration entirely.

Mad Max: Fury Road takes place in a world so full of detail and imagination that it shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that director George Miller has a backstory for just about everything on screen. In the finished film, everything feels like it has a history. Every corner of every frame is alive. Rather than confine this information to his imagination, Miller has put it in a comic book.

Mad Max: Fury Road didn’t have a pitch perfect weekend at the box office (because Pitch Perfect 2 scored a massive debut and earned about $25 million more dollars than it did), but its $44.4 million opening already makes it the highest grossing Mad Max movie of all time in the U.S., and its $100 million worldwide and counting is nothing to sneeze at. Director George Miller has already made it clear that Fury Road is designed to kick off a whole new run of Mad Max films with new series star Tom Hardy, and if the next sequel does happen, he’s even got a title picked out and everything. Miller told Jeff Goldsmith on The Q&A Podcast that the fifth Mad Max film would be called Mad Max: The Wasteland.

“This is a movie that strains at the leash of the possible, a movie of great visionary wonders.” That lovely sentence concluded Roger Ebert’s 1985 review of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Thirty years later, Mad Max is finally back in a new sequel, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Ebert’s words feel truer than ever. Fury Road is an incredible achievement, one that strains so hard at the leash of the possible that it eventually breaks free and barrels headlong into the realm of insane genius. Forget Max Rockatansky; director George Miller, the guy who co-conceived and shot this gorgeous, glorious lunacy, is the true madman here. And the true hero for having pulled it off.

Now that Avengers: Age of Ultron is arriving this weekend, we can start focusing more of our excitement (if even possible) on Mad Max: Fury Road. We’ve got one final trailer for the film, and it features perhaps the most dialogue and exposition yet — that’s definitely quite a change from previous trailers for the film. What hasn’t changed: fire, blood, monstrous vehicles, and that lovely day Nicholas Hoult has been going on about.

It may not have a number in its title, but Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth film in a series stretching back to 1979. And while original star Mel Gibson has been replaced by Tom Hardy, director George Miller is present and accounted for, still wrecking cars in the post-apocalypse for your amusement. The newest trailer for the Fury Road, labeled the “legacy trailer,” uses footage from the past films build up to the newest entry to remind potential viewers this isn’t just another action franchise. This is Mad freaking Max.

It’s hard not to exclaim “Oh what a lovely day!” every time we get to see new footage from Mad Max: Fury Road. Director George Miller’s long-awaited, highly-anticipated installment in the franchise is going to blow our minds with its extended chase sequence and intense action. It looks like those delays really paid off, as Miller devoted his time wisely to perfecting what could (and will likely) be one of the most epic action films of all time. Today brings two international TV spots, featuring a bunch of lovely, lovely new footage.

This summer is going to be absolutely nuts. Not only do we have the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron to look forward to, but there’s also Mad Max: Fury Road, which is going to melt your faces right off. We got a sneak peek at some new footage during SXSW, and while that footage won’t end up online, we do have a few new explosive teasers to share. They might be brief, but they pack some serious action.