When not taking internet trolls to task, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” director James Mangold has also been able to clear up one outstanding question regarding the upcoming fifth and final adventure of Harrison Ford’s iconic character.
Namely, the film will reportedly explain the absence of Shia LaBeouf’s character Mutt Williams, Indy’s rebellious young adult son, introduced in 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”.
The character was last seen nearly picking up Indy’s hat at his dad’s wedding to Mutt’s mother Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen). Previously Allen has played coy about whether she will return or not in the film, though if she does, it’s only expected to be a cameo.
Meanwhile, LaBeouf has never been listed as part of the film’s cast and speaking with EW, Mangold confirms the character will not be appearing in the film. He does point out that audiences will “find out what happened” to Mutt but wouldn’t offer any further details.
He does confirm the title refers to a “relic in this movie that possesses a kind of power, or may possess a kind of power” and is “based on history and scientific speculation”. He also confirms the young Jones flashbacks take place in the year 1944 with what he dubs as a “blast of classic Indy action”.
It then ‘tumbles’ right into 1969, where the bulk of the story takes place. The shift in the time period intends to be fully explored with Mangold saying:
“I mean, 1969 is the beginning of now, really, in terms of technology and the space race. So, you have Cold Wars, nuclear power, intrigue, and the lack of clear good guys and bad guys.
In the same way, you have to be really considerate about how you try and transpose a fairly simplistic kind of black-hat, white-hat sensibility into a period that is more complicated. We try to exploit that by jumping forward into 1969 to a hero who is used to a black and white world, [but finds himself] in a world that has gone gray.”
The film also stars Mads Mikkelsen as the villain Voller who is heavily inspired by the real-life Werner von Braun. Phoebe Waller-Bridge co-stars as Indy’s goddaughter, who is “slippery, charming, the girl next door, a grifter”. Antonio Banderas, Boyd Holbrook and John Rhys Davies co-star in the film, which hits cinemas on June 30th 2023.