If Whedon received scrutiny due to his feminist stance, and was limited by a studio system apparently reluctant to engage with gender representation, George Miller was comparatively unconstrained. One may expect a film concerned with male control and female autonomy would be scrutinised for having an all-male writing team, however Fury Road avoided this. (…) Issues of franchise and audience expectation are also relevant: both films were anticipated returns of popular franchises, but arguably Fury Road did not have the ‘baggage’ of incredibly high audience expectation, and the pressure of contributing to an expansive ‘super franchise’. Moreover, the Mad Max franchise is typically considered ‘masculinist’ escapist fantasy, leading to the presumption of a smaller female audience, as well as lowering expectations of female representation, thus creating favourable conditions for a ‘surprise’ feminist film. Seemingly, Whedon’s activism and feminist concerns added to the aforementioned ‘baggage’ making outright critical and fan praise potentially unachievable. Hence, if Whedon’s feminism clashed with Marvel’s sexism, creating ambiguity which invites criticism, Miller’s high-octane tale of emancipation paired with its legitimising feminist consultancy, suffered no such issues.