Mad Max Timeline Explained: When Each Movie Takes Place

Summary

• Mad Max timeline is complex with contradictions and retcons, creating an ambiguous and legend-like story rather than a linear one.
• Sequels and prequels add depth to the franchise but may disregard established details, making timeline mapping challenging.
• Enjoying each Mad Max movie as a standalone adventure is key, as the exact chronology is not crucial to understanding the story.

The Mad Max timeline can be difficult to decipher. There are contradictions, retcons, and loose connections as the franchise continues as well as a 30-year gap between the third and fourth movies in which the main character is recast from Mel Gibson to Tom Hardy. Mad Max: Fury Road featured a prequel comic that reset many aspects of the timeline while featuring elements, like the cars used, that don’t fit with what was previously established. However, acknowledging these inconsistencies, it’s still possible to map out a general Mad Max timeline across the four movies, and the prequel film Furiosa.

Series creator George Miller addressed these retcons, saying that the original intention for the fourth film was to have Gibson return to play an old, grizzled Max. Instead, the version of Mad Max: Fury Road that was ultimately released to acclaim is a sort of reboot, sequel, and retelling in one. That ambiguous status turns the whole Mad Max story into more of a legend than a strict, linear story. Framed this way, a Mad Max timeline can be created across all four Mad Max movies by looking at each in turn and taking into account the changes made.

Mad Max (1979)

Set In The Mid-1980s

The original Mad Max (1979) opens with the caption, “A few years from now.” That, and a piece of graffiti on a road sign dated December 1984, puts the events of the first film in the mid-80s, most likely 1985.

At the time the story starts, Australia — along with the rest of the world — has been thrown into a social and economic breakdown as a result of warring around the Persian Gulf. The wars cause a dramatic drop-off in oil production. In turn, the lack of fuel sparks a global financial collapse, with various countries declaring martial law to keep order.

In this timeline, violent road gangs have taken over the highways of Australia, only kept in check by the officers of the MFP (Main Force Patrol), which includes a young “Mad” Max Rockatansky. Unlike the other movies in the franchise, some semblance of society still existed with law enforcement and stores still operating, and the world was stable enough that Max and his family even go on a road trip vacation, albeit one that ends in tragedy. It is also worth noting there was still greenery and not just an empty wasteland.

By the film’s end, it’s clear that the world is in rough shape but that a semblance of order still exists. At the very least, a visible divide remains between the wasteland and what remains of civilization.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Set 3 Years Later (Roughly Late 1980s)

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is said to take place about three years after the end of Mad Max. With the first movie roughly in 1985, that makes the setting here in the late 1980s. This is where Miller’s retcons start to get a bit confusing. In the original timeline, The Road Warrior‘s story precedes the eventual global nuclear war, and the wasteland as shown in the movie is just the result of further decay and societal breakdown, not the aftermath of nuclear winter.

In the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel comics, however, this is changed, and the nuclear war takes place between the first and second films. Regardless of the timeline, the effect is the same: society has continued to break down significantly in just a few short years since the end of Mad Max, especially in the Australian wasteland where Max now lives and travels around in his interceptor searching for gasoline.

There are forms of civilization left, including a peaceful tribe of people that Max ends up joining. The movie also sees the rise in warlords who will play a larger role in the franchise going forward. The Humungus runs a crew of bandits looking to take the gas from the weaker communities, setting up the theme of this new world in which the strong and merciless have taken control by brute force.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Set 15 Years Later (Early 2000s)

The third Mad Max movie, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, takes place about 15 years after the end of The Road Warrior. This is evidenced by a marking near the crashed airplane where the Lost Tribe takes Max, which denotes that the plane’s pilot, Captain Walker, left to seek help in 1999. Seeing as how Walker has been gone for at least a few years, and that The Road Warrior takes place around 1988, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome marks the longest stretch between any of the Mad Max movies.

Of course, this timeline becomes problematic retroactively because of Mad Max: Fury Road. Beyond Thunderdome takes place well after the nuclear war, regardless of which timeline is being used, but the prequel comics show that in the new timeline, that war didn’t happen until after 2015. This is a clear contradiction with the 1999 date shown in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

Either way, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome‘s story is clearly set well after the nuclear apocalypse. Bartertown represents the first real instance of an attempt to rebuild society post-collapse, with a general outline of laws, commerce, and social hierarchy. This structure goes beyond the simple gangs and survivor groups shown in The Road Warrior, and it fits with the new, post-apocalyptic social order shown in Mad Max: Fury Road.

The movie also sees the progression of the world as a wasteland with the nuclear warfare seemingly extinguishing most of the remnants of greenery left. The movie ends with a group of children seeking to build a new civilization in the remains of Sydney, but Fury Road suggests it didn’t turn out well.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Set Multiple Decades Later (Possibly 2050)

As previously mentioned, Mad Max: Fury Road is difficult to situate exactly in the context of the original trilogy. It’s clear that the movie takes place after the events of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, according to the prequel comics. It’s also clear from the appearance and behavior of Hardy’s Max in Fury Road that at least some notable time has passed, as he is even more primal, silent, and animalistic than he is at the end of the third movie.

Given a few references to the amount of time since the war, and the real-life references in the comics, the fourth film likely takes place around 2050. However, the chronology does not line up. Even if the dates and car models from Mad Max are ignored, as they seem to be in the comics, and it’s assumed that the events of those movies all still took place as they did, just 30 or 40 years later, it still doesn’t quite work.

Max still appears to be in his 30s in Mad Max: Fury Road, even though he would have had to be at least 40 in Beyond Thunderdome. Plus, in Mad Max’s Fury Road introduction, he sports a new tattoo marking 12,045 days (or exactly 33 years) since the “fall” – presumably the apocalypse. This means that Tom Hardy’s Max would have barely been born at the time of the societal collapse, which directly contradicts the first Mad Max.

Accepting Mad Max as more of a myth is the easiest way to reconcile these contradictions, but fans have proposed some interesting theories, too. Some suggest Gibson and Hardy’s Mad Max characters are completely different people, and that the titles of “Mad Max” and “Road Warrior” were passed from one to the other at some point in time. This is supported by the fact that Max has a son in the first movie, while the flashbacks in Fury Road show a little girl.

A few have even gone so far as to theorize that Hardy’s Max is the feral boy from The Road Warrior. With Mad Max director George Miller himself admittedly unclear on all the details of the franchise’s timeline, a truly concrete answer is likely impossible. But the open nature of the series lore makes it ripe for speculation and creates the potential for more stories to come. However, Fury Road continues to show the world’s gradual decline into a wasteland as Furiosa talks of “the green place” only to discover these last remains of plants and green life are gone.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

Set At Least As Early As 2030

Following the backstory of Charlize Theron’s character, played by Anya Taylor-Joy this time, Furiosa is a prequel set before she became an Imperator for Immortan Joe. As with the other Mad Max movies, it’s hard to pin down when exactly Furiosa takes place, but George Miller has said that it takes place around 15 years prior to Mad Max: Fury Road, with some scenes such as flashbacks to Furiosa’s time in the Green Place being further back in the timeline.

Given that Taylor-Joy is 20 years younger than Charlize Theron, the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa could be set as early as 2030 in parts, or even earlier given that Taylor-Joy could convincingly play down in age. In any case, the vast majority of the film’s placement along the Mad Max timeline should be before Mad Max: Fury Road and well after Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

Mad Max 5: The Wasteland Will Likely Take Place After Fury Road

More Timeline Details Are Unknown

We do have another story, but it’s still not fully evolved.

Coming quickly on the heels of the highly successful Mad Max: Fury Road was George Miller’s announcement that Mad Max 5, titled Mad Max: The Wasteland, was in the works. Unlike Furiosa, this film is intended to be a true sequel to Fury Road, once again starring Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky. But updates on the long-delayed Mad Max: The Wasteland have been virtually nonexistent since then, prompting speculation about whether the film is actually going to happen or not.

Fortunately, Miller did offer reassurance in 2022, stating, “We do have another story, but it’s still not fully evolved. We’ll see further down the chain.” When Mad Max 5 was first teased, Miller supposedly had the script mostly complete, so it doesn’t seem as though much actual progress has been made, but it’s nice to know Miller hasn’t forgotten about the project.

In any case, based on all the available information about Mad Max: The Wasteland, it should take place after Fury Road, and shouldn’t be set too many years following Fury Road’s events if Hardy is supposed to remain believable as a thirty-something Max. Charlize Theron should also return as Furiosa, with Anya Taylor-Joy’s prequel offering even more insight into her character in the meantime. All told, Mad Max: Fury Road and the entire Mad Max franchise aren’t over yet, and the timeline will likely remain fluid as the story progresses.

New Mad Max Prequel Could Take Place 1 Year Before Fury Road

Mad Max: The Wasteland isn’t the only upcoming project that could affect the timeline order, as a new Mad Max prequel could take place one year before Mad Max: Fury Road. According to George Miller, this Mad Max: Fury Road prequel story follows Max in the year leading up to the events of Mad Max: Fury Road (via Collider). Not much is known about what actually happens in this story, but Miller’s tease of another Mad Max: Fury Road prequel following Max is incredibly exciting.

How To Watch The Mad Max Movies In Chronological Order

Furiosa Is The Only Mad Max Movie Presented Out Of Timeline Order So Far

Audiences could drop in whenever they wanted and enjoy each movie as a standalone adventure.

As complicated as the Mad Max timeline is, it does provide a fairly straight-forward watching order for the franchise. Fans can follow the order of release to understand the chronology of the existing movies even if there will be some confusion and contradictions along the way. However, it seems like George Miller created the franchise so that audiences could drop in whenever they wanted and enjoy each movie as a standalone adventure. In fact, the American release of The Road Warrior didn’t present it as a sequel as American audiences were unfamiliar with Mad Max.

The watching order for the franchise only changed with the release of Furiosa. It was the first movie in the franchise to be a prequel and thus not move the timeline forward. As such, fans will watch it before the events of Mad Max: Fury Road if they want to see the movies in chronological order. It is also assumed that Mad Max: The Wasteland will continue the story after the events of Mad Max: Fury Road, though the story remains unconfirmed. The Mad Max watch order is:

The Mad Max Timeline Isn’t Actually That Important

The Movies Can Be Enjoyed On Their Own

While there is a Mad Max timeline that can be determined through the existing movies, it is a complicated one that doesn’t make total sense. It seems as though George Miller is not overly concerned with perfect continuity in these movies, and he even seems to purposely confuse things with details like having a Mad Max cameo in Furiosa in which he appears to be the same age he is in Mad Max: Fury Road. As such, thinking about the exact chronology of the franchise is not important for enjoying the Mad Max movies and the timeless doesn’t really matter.

Each of the movies in the Mad Max franchise tells their own story without an overall story having to be built or continued with each new entry. Despite a main character connecting the movie, they can be viewed as standalone adventures. One interesting way to look at it is that each of these movies is a story about the legendary figure of the wasteland known as Max. These stories have been passed around and told by other people so the details do not always match up, but they all tell the tale of Mad Max.