Intro

41 years have passed since an archaeology professor and adventurer set out in search of the Ark of the Covenant and engaged in a race with the Nazis. We are of course talking about none other than Dr. Henry Walton Jones Jr. or better known as Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford. Now Ford and his character have aged quite a bit, but that does not stop him from playing the role of the treasure hunter again and again. Next year it will be that time once more, as the fifth film is scheduled to be released in theaters. Since not much is known about the title yet, naturally we wonder: what kind of treasure will he be hunting this time? Who will be his antagonist? And of course: in which period of time will the whole story take place? Now there are already all kinds of rumors. To save you from having to spend hours on the Web looking for information, we have summarized all the facts about the cast, the production and the plot for you here in this video. 

Cast

So first of all, let's get to the cast. A few familiar faces have already been confirmed. However, we can only speculate about their roles, since there is neither a trailer nor any other information so far. 

Indiana "Indy" Jones 

Of course, the most important person in the film is Indiana "Indy" Jones, who is played by Harrison Ford. After playing the smuggler "Han Solo" in "Star Wars", this was Ford's second major role under George Lucas. Indiana Jones earned his PhD in archaeology at the University of Chicago, where he also lectured as a professor. But as everyone knows, his great love was treasure hunting and above all the mission to bring the treasures to the museum. His most frequent adversaries in this were the Nazis. He already had to face them in two out of four movies. The iconic traits of the adventurer with a doctorate are clearly the fedora hat, his whip and his panic fear of snakes. Whereas Indy went on a treasure hunt in the first three parts before the Second World War, in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" he found himself in the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

The New Ones

The first new addition to the cast is Phoebe Waller-Bridge. This could be one of the 42-year-old actress and screenwriter's first major roles in a Hollywood movie of this format. She already worked with Ford in the Star Wars sequel "Solo: A Star Wars Story". We could imagine her being the woman at Indy's side in the film. After all, similar to James Bond, he always has female support.

Meanwhile, the antagonist is already known: He will be played by Mads Mikkelsen. It was just this year that Mikkelsen slipped into the role of Grindelwald in "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" and he has already shown in older productions that he is capable of playing the role of the villain perfectly. With a star like Mikkelsen as the opponent, we are already looking forward to the hunt for whatever treasure.

A German actor also gets to take part in the film: Thomas Kretschmann. The former swimmer was last seen in the second season of the Netflix series "Biohackers". He is not a complete unknown in Hollywood, though, having already starred in movies such as Peter Jackson's "King Kong", "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron". What role he will play in "Indiana Jones 5" is not yet clear. However, since there are already photos of Nazi uniforms on the set, it is reasonable to assume that he will end up wearing one. Boyd Holbrook is also one of the new guys in the franchise. The US actor and model was last seen as the Corinthian in the series "Sandman". He previously had bigger roles in "Logan", in which he played the antagonist, and "The Predator". However, we still have no idea whether he will be competing against the protagonist as usual, or whether he will devote himself to being the good guy this time around. And with Shaunette Renée Wilson, the movie gets a new face that is still almost unheard of in Hollywood. Apart from a supporting role in "Black Panther", the 32-year-old actress has not had any major roles yet. By contrast, Toby Jones is very well-known. The Brit has starred in all sorts of big movies, whether as Erwin Sola in the MCU or Sir William Ingram in "The Electrical Life of Louis Wain". Jones will no doubt be an asset to the film. As we have already seen in "Captain America: The First Avenger", the part of a Nazi mad scientist suits him well. So maybe he will get to fill that role again now?

But besides Ford, Mikkelsen and Jones, another Hollywood star is joining the cast: Antonio Banderas will also assume a role in the film. Along with Ford, Banderas is also somewhat aging at the age of 62. Yet, that does not prevent him from immersing himself once again in a real adventure. After all, the Spaniard is well versed as a treasure hunter: His most recent film appearance was as Santiago Moncada in the video game adaptation "Uncharted". 

Rumors

Actually, in the fourth part, it was teased as a big story where things are headed: Indy is the father of young daredevil Henry "Mutt" Williams, embodied by Shia LaBeouf. His mother was none other than Marion Williams, known to most as Marion Ravenwood from "Raiders of the Lost Ark". But it was not only the movie "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" that flopped with fans. The fact that LaBeouf was supposed to take over from Harrison Ford at some point also upset the fans more than they were able to come to terms with the idea. Thus the role was cancelled and to this day neither LaBeouf nor Karen Allen appear in the casting lists. Rumor has it that the character of the son may have made it back regardless. For instance, residents of the filming locations report that they have seen footage of a stunt double riding a horse, closely followed by a boy with greased-back hair on a motorcycle. This already resembles very much the young LaBeouf from the fourth part. Logically, it would also make sense when you consider the role of Indiana Jones. Indy is admittedly not always the friendliest of contemporaries. But since he himself was often left alone by his father, we hardly believe that he would abandon his own son shortly after meeting him.

Production

After the moderate success and rather poor reviews of "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", the idea of a fifth part of Indiana Jones was initially abandoned. It was not until the Disney takeover in 2013 that the subject was brought up again. In 2015, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced that another film was being planned. However, not only that: two more films are also to be released in the future. As director it was possible - just like in the four previous films - to engage Steven Spielberg at first. However, he resigned and justified his departure by stating that he wanted to make way for a new generation that would bring its perspective to the story. He has been replaced by 58-year-old James Mangold, who among other projects directed the last two "Wolverine" movies. Spielberg, however, did not want to drop out of the project altogether. Along with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, he is responsible for the production of the film. The film's screenplay was already completed in September 2017, but did not meet with much approval from the people in charge. Thus, David Koepp was substituted as screenwriter and replaced by Jon Kasdan. The latter already wrote the script for "Solo: A Star Wars Story" together with his father. This led to the actual release date of June 2020 having to be pushed back. After many postponements and the events of the past few years, filming was finally set to begin in June 2021. The film was shot at Pinewood Studios near London, and in Sicily. 

Although a first trailer for the movie is not yet available, an image has already been published. It shows Indiana Jones himself walking across a bridge in a dark cave in dim light. At first glance, there is hardly any difference to earlier films, even though Harrison Ford and thus his character Indiana Jones have aged noticeably. For Harrison Ford, it is definitely his last appearance in his cult role as the treasure hunter. John Williams will likewise be involved in a project for the last time. He has once again been responsible for the musical accompaniment to the spectacle, but would like to take his well-deserved retirement at the age of 90. The movie is scheduled to be released on June 30, 2023, and we are confident no changes will be made to this date.

Plot

That leaves one big question: In which setting is the adventure taking place? After the last part of the series was set in the 50s, this time it will probably be in the 60s. The focus is on the competition for the moon landing between the US and the Soviet Union. For this, NASA is to rely on an ex-Nazi scientist, who, however, also pursues his own goals. As mentioned previously, he is played by Mads Mikkelsen. But according to insiders, it will not stop at a simple landing on the moon. "Indiana Jones 5" is also supposed to include time travel. This is of course neither confirmed nor denied so far. One clue is that Harrison Ford was seen with dots on his face during filming. These are used, for example, to rejuvenate a character in post-production. How this is supposed to fit into the classic treasure hunt concept is yet to be seen. Indeed, time must somehow be found in the storyline to bring in a successor for the next two films. Mikkelsen is certainly raving about Ford and the movie, telling reporters, "Indy 5 will be a real old-school Indy film and Harrison Ford is out of this world. I hope I'll be as fit when I'm 80." Thus, we can look forward to great things. 

Outro

And that was all the information that is currently available about "Indiana Jones 5". What are you most looking forward to in the film? Or would you like to see a former companion of Indy that has not been confirmed yet? Let us know in the comments!