When we first got word that Mads Mikkelsen would be joining the cast of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, everyone’s first thought was “Oh, he’s going to play the villain,” and with good reason; from Grindelwald to Kaecilius to Le Chiffre, the Danish actor has made a name for himself with his ability to bring a consistently marked gravitas to villainous roles, an ability he will indeed employ as Nazi scientist Jürgen Voller.
The incoming swansong of the legendary archaeologist holds a unique distinction amongst Mikkelsen’s other work in the genre space; specifically, Indiana Jones is the only franchise that the actor is genuinely plugged into of the ones he’s been involved with. In a recent interview with Digital Spy, the Rogue One star cheekily admitted to lying about any fixations on the likes of Star Wars and James Bond, two franchises he’s loaned his talents to, before revealing that Indiana Jones is the one that truly captured his imagination as a fan.
“It’s not my first franchise, but it’s the first one I grew up with. I’ve been lying in all the other interviews when I did Bond and Star Wars. I always said I saw them, but I didn’t. I remember my brother and I, we [rented] the film together with five other films, and we ended up watching Indiana Jones five times and not the other ones. And so, it is true to say that this shaped our generation.”
It seems the actor picked quite the franchise to fall in love with; we can’t imagine the honor that must come with playing the villain in the final entry of a saga that helped shape your love for movies, and what a villain Jürgen Voller seems to be. As a Nazi working for NASA during the space race era, Jürgen’s sights are set on manipulating the Apollo program for his own gain, placing the titular adventure in an especially precarious position as his retirement party turns into a Nazi-punching, dial-searching race against time.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is due in theaters on June 30.