New 'Mad Max: Fury Road' Images: Tom Hardy And Charlize Theron In The Wasteland [Updated]

The fourth film in the Mad Max series, Mad Max: Fury Road, doesn't land in theaters for another year. And, despite the fact that most of the film shot over a year in the past (the first round of photography finished in December 2012) we've seen almost nothing from the rather unlikely new chapter in the series. But now stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron have landed on the cover of EW. The photo is really the first good color shot of Tom Hardy as Mad Max, and one of the first released pictures of Theron in her role, period.

Update #1: Many more photos have been released, along with a new synopsis. All that is below.Update #2: Some interesting concept art has been revealed as well. See it after the jump.

Here's the cover, and the many images that came along with the cover story. Perhaps we'll seen even see a teaser trailer. Meanwhile, EW paraphrases co-writer and director George Miller saying the film has "few digital effects and even less dialogue," which should make Max fans giddy.

So Hardy obviously plays Max. Theron is Imperator Furiosa, and then the rest of the cast includes Nicholas Hoult, Nathan Jones, Zoë Kravitz, Riley Keough, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. And Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played the Toecutter in the first film, returns in a new role.

Quite a while back, Miller told us a bit about the plot:

Mad Max is caught up with a group of people fleeing across the Wasteland in a War Rig driven by the Imperator Furiosa. This movie is an account of the Road War which follows. It is based on the Word Burgers of the History Men and eyewitness accounts of those who survived.

Here's the new synopsis:

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is the fourth film of George Miller's Road Warrior/Mad Max franchise co-written and directed by Miller. The post-apocalyptic action film is set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life.

Within this world of fire and blood exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order... There's Max (played by TOM HARDY from The Dark Knight Rises), a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And... Furiosa (played by CHARLIZE THERON from Prometheus), a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland.

After the first test screening of the film took place a couple months back, enthusiastic reactions said the movie is basically one long chase scene. (That's a good thing, for a Mad Max film.)

In fact, George Miller tells EW,

I wanted to tell a linear story–a chase that starts as the movie begins and continues for 110 minutes... In this crucible of very intense action, the characters are revealed.

People we've spoken to directly who saw the film, which was unfinished at the time, said it compares favorably with the best film in the series, The Road Warrior. All of which is better news than we ever expected to hear about the delayed sequel to a series that last hit theaters in 1985.

Mad Max: Fury Road opens on May 15, 2015.