A few years ago, unfounded rumors were making the rounds that Disney and Lucasfilm were considering going down the James Bond route and recasting the role of Indiana Jones in order to carry on the franchise. Sure, Steven Spielberg might have used his love of 007 as the inspiration for his own globetrotting adventure series, but that’s where the similarities begin and end.
After all, while fans may have reacted surprisingly well to the studio making a Han Solo prequel without Harrison Ford, it seems doubtful that somebody else donning the fedora and cracking the whip would go down anywhere near as smoothly. The leading man is going to be at least 80 years old when the fifth installment hits theaters, too, so it was hardly a shock when producer Frank Marshall confirmed that it will be the last film in the franchise.
Not only that, but he said the title hero will never be recast, sentiments that were already echoed by Ford when he made it abundantly clear that he wants Indiana Jones to die with him. However, insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming that Lucasfilm are eying Chris Pratt to play a younger version of the character presumably in some sort of prequel, but the tipster offers no further details to back up a statement that’s already been debunked by both Pratt and his theoretical predecessor in the past.
Over the last seven days, Richtman has also reported that Indiana Jones 5 will set up multiple spinoffs, Ford is wanted for an Indy show on Disney Plus and an animated series is in the works, so either Lucasfilm have major plans in the pipeline or some of his intel is a bit off. That being said, he does have a very strong track record when it comes to scoops, but even if this latest one pans out, nobody is going to buy anyone else as the iconic archeologist, meaning that any continuation of the franchise is pretty much doomed from the start.
