Who is the Little Girl Max Keeps Seeing in ‘Fury Road’?
Few things are messier than Max Rockatansky’s (Tom Hardy) past. As ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ continues its journey in theatres, fans might wonder where the madman is at that time. It has to do with a mystery from ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’. In that movie, Max is constantly haunted by visions of a little girl referred to in the credits only as ‘The Accusing Dead,’ played by Coco Jack Gillies. But in reality, she is known as Glory, and she and her mother are the key to explaining why Max is, well, mad by the time ‘Fury Road’ begins.
After his opening monologue in ‘Fury Road’, Max is seen standing next to his black Interceptor while a girl’s voiceover accuses him with lines like, “You promised to help us!” This is Glory, her first appearance in the movie. The most confusing instance, however, occurs when Max watches Furiosa (Charlize Theron) and the Vuvalini riding away into the salt flats, and the girl calls him “pa.”
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Max indeed had a family in the past, but what he had were a wife and a son, not a daughter. In ‘Mad Max’, Max (then played by Mel Gibson) is a police officer trying to keep what’s left of the world together.
After dangerous encounters with a biker gang leader named Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and losing his best friend, Goose (Steve Bisley), Max’s wife, Jessie (Joanne Samuel), begs him to leave the service so they can move somewhere safe with their son, Sprog (Brendan Heath). Max agrees, but they are followed by Toecutter’s gang, who ultimately kill Jessie and Sprog.
So, the only child Max ever had died in the first movie, a memory that certainly weighs on Max’s shoulders. His constant remembrance of Glory is likely tied to this. Despite his madness, he still takes time to help those in need while wandering through the Wasteland, reflecting his regret for not being able to protect his own family.
Following the success of ‘Fury Road’ in 2015, new Mad Max media emerged, including the ‘Fury Road’ prelude comics and the ‘Mad Max’ video game, both expanding on Glory’s story and her relationship with Max, despite some contradictions.
In the comics, Max stops in Gas Town and wins a fighting contest in the Thunderdome for a new V8 engine, with help from a desperate woman named Hope. Hope asks Max to help rescue her kidnapped daughter, Glory, from the Buzzards. Max tracks them down and rescues Glory, but returns to find Hope and Glory dead, having been followed by the Buzzards. Max promises the dying girl to look after her forever.
In the ‘Mad Max’ game, Max and Hope encounter each other multiple times. After losing a fight to Scabrous Scrotus (Josh Helman), Hope persuades Max to rescue Glory from the Buzzards. He does but later finds Hope and Glory killed by Scrotus, triggering the final part of the game. This version, however, isn’t considered canon.
A fan film, ‘Hope and Glory’, offers a third account, mixing elements from the previous versions. All versions share the theme of Max’s lingering guilt for leaving them behind, reminiscent of his failure with his own family. This guilt prevents him from accepting new chances for redemption.
Throughout ‘Fury Road’, Max is haunted by memories of Hope and Glory. He faces a similar situation with Furiosa and the Wives of Immortan Joe (also played by Keays-Byrne). He overcomes his regret when he joins the Vuvalini, initially declining their offer to ride through the salt flats. But a vision of Glory calling him “pa” convinces him to lead the Vuvalini in an attack on the Citadel, changing the course of the story.
– Farheen Ali
