Fewer things are messier than Max Rockatansky’s (Tom Hardy) past. AsFuriosa: A Mad Max Sagacontinues itsjourney in theaters, fans might wonder where the madman is at that time, and, as it turns out, it has to do with a mystery fromMad Max: Fury Road. In that movie, Max is constantly haunted by visions of a little girl mentioned in the credits only as “The Accusing Dead,” played byCoco Jack Gillies. But, in reality, she answers to the name Glory, andshe and her mother are the key to explaining why Max is, well, mad by the timeFury Roadbegins.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Years after the collapse of civilization, the tyrannical Immortan Joe enslaves apocalypse survivors inside a desert fortress, the Citadel. When the warrior Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) leads the despot’s five wives in a daring escape, she forges an alliance with Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), a loner and former captive. Fortified in the massive armored truck, the War Rig, they attempt to outrun the ruthless warlord and his henchmen in a deadly high-speed chase through the Wasteland.
Glory Is Not Max Rockatansky’s Daughter
After his opening monologue inFury Road, Max Rockatansky is seen from his back standing next to his black Interceptor. A girl is constantly speaking in voiceover, saying things like “You promised to help us!” and other accusing claims that would make anyone living chill. But Max is used to living with ghosts, so he casually eats a two-headed lizard and drives off as a gang of marauders starts chasing him.This is Glory, the child’s first appearance in the movie. The most confusing one, however, happens as Max watches Furiosa (Charlize Theron) andthe Vuvaliniriding away into the salt flats, as the girl calls him “pa.”
Max indeed had a family in the past, and the image of a little girl calling him “pa” is understandably confusing.But what he actually had were a wife and a son, nothing more. InMad Max, Max (then played byMel Gibson) is a police officer at the Main Force Patrol (MPF), trying to keepwhat’s left of the worldtogether. After some dangerous encounters with a biker gang leader called Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and losing his best friend and partner Goose (Steve Bisley), Max’s wife, Jessie (Joanne Samuel), begs him to leave the service, so they can move away with their son, little Sprog (Brendan Heath), to somewhere safe. Max agrees, and the Rockatanskys move to the coast. Unfortunately, they are followed by Toecutter and his gang, who run them over in a successful attempt to taunt Max.
So, the only child Max ever had dies in the first movie of the saga, and is never mentioned again. His memory certainly weighs on Max’s shoulders, andhis constantly remembering Glory is definitely tied to this. Although he is indeed mad, he always takes time to help the people in need whiledriving aimlessly through the Wasteland, which speaks to his best qualities and, possibly, the regret he feels for not being able to protect his own family.
In the wake of the success ofFury Roadin 2015, there was a lot of newMad Maxmedia coming out. The two best ones are theFury Roadprelude comics, co-written byGeorge Millerhimself, and theMadMaxvideo game, andboth of them expand on Glory’s story and her relationship with Max- even if they are somewhat contradictory accounts.
In the comics, Max isdriving around the Wastelandand stops in Gas Town. The Interceptor is in bad shape, and there is a fighting contest in the local Thunderdome. Max joins and defeats a member of a gang called the Buzzards for the prize of a new V8 engine. He has help from a desperate woman named Hope, however, and she begs him for his help in return. The Buzzards have kidnapped her daughter, Glory, and she needs to get her back. Owing her a favor, Max tracks the Buzzards to her base in Sunken City (the subterranean area under what used to be the Sydney airport). There, he finds Glory and takes her back to her mother outside Gas Town, but declines to stay with them. When Max decides to go back,he discovers that the Buzzards have followed him and killed Hope and Glory. He promises the dying girl to look after her forever, and that her mother is okay.
In theMad Maxgame, the story is a little different. Max and Hope run into each other multiple times and even take a liking to each other, until he finds her as a prisoner in a stronghold near Gas Town. She finally persuades him to rescue Glory from the Buzzards after nursing him back to health once he loses a fight toScabrous Scrotus(Josh Helman), who rules Gas Town in the game. He rescues Glory just like in the comics. When they offer him to stay with them - andGlory even calls him “father”- though, he declines,being the lone rider he is. He then has a change of heart and decides to go back, only to find that the mother and the daughter were killed by Scrotus, thus triggering the final part of the game. However, the game isn’t considered canon.
Glory Is a Symbol of Max’s Regrets and Madness
Recently, a third account of Max and Glory’s relationship came out in the fan filmHope and Glory, telling a story that is a mix of the two earlier versions.What they all have in common is the lingering feeling of guilt that Max has for leaving them behind, when, had he been with them, he could have protected them. This feeling is reminiscent of his failure withhis own familyyears before. This time, though, he did have the chance to be with them, but his regret about his family didn’t allow him a new chance, hence his change of heart mid-drive and, later, his regret for not accepting their offer to stay with them in the first place.
ThroughoutFury Road, Max is confronted by his memories of Hope and Glory. Now, he faces a similar situation, seeing himself having to help Furiosa and the Wives of Immortan Joe (also Keays-Byrne) as they flee the Citadel.He is only able to overcome his regret when they join the Vuvalini. They offer him a motorcycle to join them as they ride through the endless salt flats, but,thanks to Gloryappearing to him after he declines another offer to join a well-meaning group of people. She calls him “pa,” and that is what seals the deal for him. Hen then rides to the Vuvalini and convinces them to attack the Citadel instead, and the rest is history.
Mad Max: Fury Roadis available to stream on Max in the U.S.
