Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is on the cusp of release, and Harrison Ford has confirmed that it will be the last time he will play the titular character. It makes sense, given that the actor is 80, but the same could have been said when he was 65 and starring in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull back in 2008.
What changed? Well, during a recent interview with Variety, Ford said he was disappointed with the way Crystal Skull left the character, and felt that a stronger, more conclusive ending was needed. One that would address the perils of getting older.
“Six years ago, I thought maybe we ought to take a shot at making another one. I mean, the last one ended in kind of a suspended animation. There was not a real strong feeling of the conclusion or the closure that I always hoped for, the roundness and speaking to this issue of age.”
Ford made sure that Dial of Destiny addressed this issue, and did so in a way that was not dismissive or strictly comedic. “I wanted it to be character driven,” he added. “And I wanted us to confront the question of age straight on. Not to hide my age, but to take advantage of it in the telling of the story.” As for whether he considered his last hurrah in the fedora to be bittersweet, Ford had no regrets. “No, It’s time for me to grow up,” he said.
The trailer and the promotional material for Dial of Destiny certainly allude to the fact that Indy is in the final stage of his life. He retires his teaching position for reasons we won’t spoil here, and his marriage to Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) appears to be on the rocks. The film also teases a second “passing of the torch” candidate in the form of Indy’s goddaughter, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). The first was Indy’s son, Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf), but the character appears to be absent from the film.
Then there’s the flashback. The trailer has revealed that part of the film will be set in 1944, and show Indy fighting Nazis in an attempt to reclaim a powerful artifact. It won’t be the first time an Indiana Jones film has included a flashback (River Phoenix played his teen counterpart in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), but it will be the first time that Ford plays the character using de-aging technology. The fact that an aging Indy will be contrasted with the Indy we know from the original trilogy only confirms that Dial of Destiny has mortality front of mind.
It’s a storytelling trick that hasn’t been lost on Ford. The actor told Deadline that he was “very happy” with the de-aging. “It’s just a trick unless it’s supported by a story and it sticks out like a sore thumb if it’s not honest,” he stated. “And so I think it was used very skillfully.” When asked whether he could relive his youth, however, Ford balked. “It was great to be young, but I’m real happy with age,” he added. “I love being older.”
