Mad Max: Fury Road is the first film in the Mad Max franchise not to feature Mel Gibson in the lead role, as Mad Max Rockatansky. Instead, the film, directed by George Miller, will feature Tom Hardy in the lead role, a move which has been received fairly well by fans.

But it wasn't always planned that way, and originally it was actually the case that Mel Gibson would have starred in Fury Road and portrayed Mad Max once again. It was reported by Cinema Blend that George Miller had spoken previously about Gibson's involvement with the franchise and his original plans for a Gibson-starring Mad Max Fury Road.

"We were going to do it with Mel and we were within reach of doing it with Mel. Then 9/11 happened and the American dollar fell against the Australian dollar. The budget ballooned. ... By the time we were ready for Fury Road again, Mel had all those troubles. It also definitely got to the stage where it wasn't like Unforgiven, where it plays with an older guy. It was definitely the younger guy, the same guy."

But how would this first Mad Max: Fury Road have played out? Would audiences still have believed Gibson as the "younger guy" when he was in his '40s (which seemed to hav been the case when this first version of Fury Road was planned).

There may also be a chance that Gibson could still return to the franchise, as his popularity with moviegoing audiences is slowly starting to increase. Recently, Gibson starred as the villain in The Expendables 3 and Machete Kills, which are two more high-profile roles than the actor had seen in a long time. And if Mad Max: Fury Road can push itself to be a succesful rebirth of the franchise (which seems to be the case- the trailers have proved massive successes and Miller reportedly has plans for multiple sequels), that could give Miller some leeway to reintroduce Gibson to the franchise.

Mad Max: Fury Road will release on May 15, 2015.