How "mad" is the fifth movie set in the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max? Warner Bros. just gave us the start of an answer to that question by releasing the first trailer for director George Miller's much-anticipated Furiosa, a prequel to his 2015 action classic Mad Max: Fury Road.

The studio unveiled a first look at its star, Anya Taylor-Joy, as Furiosa, a younger version of the badass character portrayed by Charlize Theron in Fury Road. Joining her for the ride are Chris Hemsworth and Tom Burke, the latter having been cast as a replacement for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who had to bow out over scheduling conflicts.

The footage screened for crowds in attendance in Brazil for the CCXP fan convention in São Paulo on Thursday. Taylor-Joy, Hemsworth, and Miller were also present to preview the high-octane movie revving towards theaters in the new year.

Warner Bros./ Youtube

According to the film's official plot description, the movie finds Furiosa being snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falling into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus, Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by the Immortan Joe, the character played by the late Hugh Keays-Byrne in Fury Road. While the two tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.

Furiosa takes place 45 years after the world collapsed. According to Taylor-Joy, who spoke on stage at CCXP, the movie "is a story grit, survival, and impossible hope."

Hemsworth plays Dementus, whom the actor described as "a very violent, insane, brutal person that is born from the Wasteland."

"He's a product of his environment, and there's an intensity to him there's a brutality," Hemsworth continued. "He has been birthed into a space where it's kill or be killed, and he's learned to rule with an iron fist. There's a charisma to him, and it's a manipulative charisma."

JASIN BOLAND/ Warner Bros

Speaking with EW last year, shortly after her work ended on the Furiosa shoot, Taylor-Joy admitted she would require some time to process the experience.

"It will probably take me the two years before it comes out to be able to digest what happened," she said. "I just finished it, so it's a bit: wow. Life-changing. Longest shoot I've ever done, for sure, but with the most unbelievable crew, and I mean, what a character. I had her. We had each other."

Furiosa is set to open in theaters May 24. Watch the trailer above.

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