In news that will send chills down the spines of Indy fans, we’re hearing that Shia LaBeouf wants to return for Indiana Jones 5. Sources close to WGTC – the same ones that told us the Fast & Furious franchise is headed to space and a Justice League Dark show is coming to HBO Max – have said that he’s made contact with Disney about reprising the role of Mutt Williams, the long lost son of Harrison Ford’s titular hero.
Mutt was last seen in 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, where he was a rebellious greaser patterned after Marlon Brando in The Wild One. During the film, it was fairly obvious that he was being positioned as Indy’s successor and in the final scene, during the beloved character’s wedding to Marion, a gust of wind blew the iconic fedora hat towards him. Mutt picked it up and was about to put it on when a grinning Jones snatched it away and walked out wearing it.
This may not have meant that Mutt was going to become the new lead in the next movie, but it certainly teased the possibility. However, upon release, LaBeouf’s character went down with fans like a bucket of cold puke and was dubbed the Jar Jar Binks of the Indiana Jones franchise. The actor even appeared to take this on board, acknowledging that he had “dropped the ball” in a 2010 interview.
The exact details of what Indiana Jones 5 will bring us remain in doubt and last we heard, Steven Spielberg had vacated the director’s chair for James Mangold, though there seem to be continued troubles with the script. Presumably, that means the core idea of the film is still up in the air, so if LaBeouf wants to be involved, he might have a shot.
If he was cast as the lead, I suspect it’d be a hard sell, despite him going a long way to rehabilitating his image over the last few years with some amazing performances, but maybe a small supporting part could work. For now, though, we’ll have to wait and see if Disney is open to it or not.
