Film Theory: Mad Max Is Actually A Horseman Of The Apocalypse

The White Horseman is Immortan Joe. Often the most debated of the four for his representation and encapsulating a number of different interpretations, the same can be said of Mad Max’s main adversary throughout Fury Road.

Primarily seen as pestilence, Joe’s rancid appearance reflects this ideal perfectly - with rotting flesh replaced with machinery and an illness he desperately tries to keep under control. Those that are a part of his following, whether willingly or not, are covered in sores from radiation sickness and generally aren’t in very good condition: apart from our lead characters that defy him. In this sense, it can be argued that those under his control are the ones succumbing to the pestiline.

The White Horseman also represents conquest, and looking at the society Joe has created that he rules through rationing water - it’s fair to say he’s conquered the wasteland. He controls it and all who live there through his supply of water.

Interestingly, the White Horseman is also interpreted as either a wholly good, such as the coming of Jesus, or an evil Antichrist figure, a false prophet intent on leading those who follow him astray. Immortan Joe’s tyrannical rule is obviously an indication of the latter, but to a radiation-burnt, delirious, lost soul in the wasteland: his mecca of supplies, warriors, and rations would be enough to convince those taken by him that he’s their saviour.