The Indiana Jones franchise is reaching its final chapter in the series, at least with Harrison Ford in the title role. It will be difficult to watch another actor stepping into the shoes of Jones, but the fifth film is being helmed by a director who's familiar with terminating a hero's journey. James Mangold has already deemed a great farewell to another fan-favorite character with Logan, and he is set to do it again.
The fifth film in the Indiana Jones franchise is yet untitled but is already subtitled the last with Harrison Ford. With the actor just turning 80, it is unlikely that an action/adventure franchise with such scope and scale continues with an actor who may not be able to keep up with its outstanding stunts. It is unclear what will be the outcome of the character, but with Mangold directing, audiences can rest assured it will be an outing worthy of the adventure.
How Logan and Indiana Jones Are Similar
Indiana Jones and Logan may not seem that similar, but just like Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones, Hugh Jackman is considered irreplaceable as Wolverine. So much so that, since Logan premiered in 2017, the character has not yet been rebooted, nor has another actor been chosen to replace him. Even if Wolverine never returned to screens (Jackman will reprise the role in Deadpool 3), it will always be difficult to picture another actor playing such an iconic hero. The same happens with Indiana Jones; the role IS Harrison Ford. But even actors cannot outlast time, and the franchise and the role itself will have to evolve into something else, if not finish altogether.
That's why Mangold looked into bringing that likelihood to Indiana Jones 5. There were a lot of things being written for the movie that did not fit what he calls a "hero at sunset." The director aimed at not looking at Ford's age as an issue to be dismissed with jokes or other material, but instead to own that as part of what will make the film better. "To me, whatever your greatest liability, you should fly straight towards that," he said in an Empire interview. "If you try to pretend it's not there, you end up getting slings and arrows the whole way."
Harrison Ford Is Indiana Jones for One Last Time
Both The Last Crusade and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull featured endings that could've been a full-stop for the franchise. The Last Crusade saw Indiana Jones riding off into the sunset in an epic way, while the last entry saw him walking down the aisle with Marion Ravenwood, played by Karen Allen. Even if filmmakers thought there was still room for another film, where he will again fight Nazis, Steven Spielberg decided to leave the job open to someone else. There's a storyline, a script and a director who promises to bid farewell to the character in high style.
The film will be set in 1969, a deeply changing time in America and the perfect background for an aging hero who's facing retirement. But even if Jones is grappling with his limits and wondering about the future, just like Wolverine in Logan, Mangold is getting him onboard his last adventure. It's curious to note that it's been 15 years since Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opened. It is now an age where Marvel heroes abound, and an old-fashioned adventure like Indiana Jones might bring as much success and nostalgia as Top Gun: Maverick did for moviegoers in 2022.
To see Harrison Ford's last turn as Indy, Indiana Jones 5 arrives in theaters on June 30, 2023.