Chris Hemsworth has been cast as the lead villain in Mad Max: Fury Road prequel film Furiosa.

The Thor actor will face off against Furiosa, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, in the film due for release in 2024. The name of his character is yet to be confirmed.

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Speaking to journalist Kyle Buchanan in his book Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild And True Story Of Mad Max: Fury Road, producer and Fury Road first assistant director P.J. Voeten discussed Hemsworth’s casting.

“George [Miller] saw Chris [Hemsworth] initially as a courtesy and then fell in love with the idea,” he explained, via Slash Film.

“He’s going to play totally against type, the lead baddie. Unfortunately, we’ve got to find all of our other characters that aren’t around anymore: a new Immortan, a new Bullet Farmer, and a few others.”

Miller had previously said he had considered bringing back Charlize Theron, who played Furiosa in Fury Road, but decided against it.

“For the longest time, I thought we could just use CG de-aging on Charlize, but I don’t think we’re nearly there yet,” he said.

“Despite the valiant attempts on The Irishman, I think there’s still an uncanny valley. Everyone is on the verge of solving it, [in] particular Japanese video-game designers, but there’s still a pretty wide valley, I believe.”

Elsewhere, Theron recently said she was “scared shitless” on set in light of an ongoing feud at the time with her co-star, Tom Hardy.