Fans reacted surprisingly well when one of Harrison Ford’s two most iconic roles was recast, with Solo gaining cult favorite status among the Star Wars faithful despite bombing at the box office, and leading man Alden Ehrenreich receiving praise for attempting to put his own spin on the roguish smuggler instead of simply doing a Ford impression and hoping for the best.
There were similar rumors making the rounds about Henry Jones Jr. when rumblings of a fifth installment started gathering momentum, with Chris Pratt one of just many names linked to inheriting the fedora. After all, if Lucasfilm are happy to recast Han Solo, then there’s no reason why they wouldn’t do it with Indy, but yesterday brought the news that the upcoming Indiana Jones 5 will mark the last movie in the franchise.
Director James Mangold is stepping in for Steven Spielberg this time around, with the leading man set to be a sprightly 80 years old when his final adventure as the esteemed professor and infamous treasure hunter hits theaters in July 2022. Meanwhile, shooting is scheduled to begin next spring, which would make it appear as though the script is finally starting to come together after David Koepp admitted when he left the project that nobody could agree on a unified creative direction.
Of course, this is Disney we’re talking about, so the claims that Indiana Jones 5 will act as the franchise’s swansong should be taken with a pinch of salt given the studio’s reluctance to let any marketable brand ride off into the sunset. In any case, a lot of fans still haven’t recovered from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull yet, so let’s hope that Ford and Indy manage to go out in style if this is indeed the last one.