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Update 10/29/09:

According to Variety, Charlize Theron has been officially confirmed for Mad Max: Fury Road, as has Tom Hardy (Bronson). What’s more, filming is imminent: George Miller will begin production next August in Australia. Here’s his quote on the possibility of Mel Gibson’s return: “it could be Mel, it could be anyone.”

So there it is. Mad Max 4 is a go.

Here’s the deal: The Road Warrior is an utterly fantastic film, and as a character, Mad Max Rockatansky is inseparable from Mel Gibson. No matter how crazy he might have become in the past few years, no matter how his image has been tarnished, the image of Mad Max lives on and will certainly be the character I remember him by.

And while it’s great that director George Miller is stepping away from Happy Feet and back toward the series that made him famous, I can’t help but cringe every time there’s talk of him replacing Gibson in Mad Max 4 (or Mad Max 4: Fury Road). Whether he intends to make a sequel or a reboot, I say slap another title on it and move forward. Please.

The latest scoop is that Oscar-winner Charlize Theron might be Miller’s choice to put on the leather gear for Mad Max 4. Which is interesting, I guess, but she’s neither an Aussie nor does she carry herself with the same presence as Gibson. He’s also looking at Black Hawk Down’s Tom Hardy to play alongside Theron.

So far, this is all just talk — no deal has been signed, and Miller is being highly secretive about the plot of the film. I find it interesting, though, when I read quotes of Miller’s such as this one, asserting that Gibson is too old for a return: “I don’t think he would be interested in being involved at all.”

Doesn’t this sound like he hasn’t even bothered to ask? Gibson seemed plenty fit to me in the Edge of Darkness trailer we posted a while back.