Indy fans are understandably dubious about the upcoming fifth Indiana Jones movie, after the bitter disappointment of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Harrison Ford isn’t getting any younger and the longer the producers deliberate over the script, the less necessary another Indiana Jones movie seems. When it was announced that Steven Spielberg was stepping down from the director’s chair, that skepticism grew. Spielberg’s directorial vision contributed as much to Indy’s classic adventures as George Lucas’ storytelling, John Williams’ music, and maybe even Harrison Ford’s performance.
But since Indiana Jones 5 promises to definitively conclude the series after Crystal Skull left it open-ended, the fact that Lucasfilm has tapped Logan director James Mangold to replace Spielberg as the film’s director does provide some semblance of hope. With the right script (which is apparently the toughest nut to crack with an Indiana Jones movie), Mangold can give Indy the same kind of swansong he gave Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine with a sense of finality and a poignant portrait of an aging icon.
When Mangold started working with Jackman on 2013’s The Wolverine, the actor had been playing the role for over a decade. In giving his stint as Wolverine a grand finale, Mangold used all the traumas the character had amassed over the course of the X-Men series and presented them as emotional baggage keeping him up at night. Mangold’s Wolvie is rough around the edges. He drinks a lot, avoids making attachments after losing a few too many loved ones, and even confesses to contemplating suicide with an adamantium bullet before finding purpose in saving the next generation of mutants. The older Indy in Indiana Jones 5 doesn’t necessarily need to be as hard-edged as Logan’s Wolverine – and it definitely shouldn’t be R-rated; this is a fun, lighthearted series of PG-13 actioners – but Indy might be facing a similar identity crisis at the tail end of a lifetime of liberating artifacts that belong in a museum (or in the hands of “top men”).
The big question is: will Indy die in Indiana Jones 5? Being the final movie in Indy’s on-screen arc would suggest that, like Tony Stark in Endgame or Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi or indeed Wolverine in Logan, he won’t survive to the end credits. But killing off Indiana Jones would certainly be a bold undertaking. This isn’t Star Wars with its Shakespearean underpinnings or the MCU with its cosmic genocide – it’s Indiana Jones, a series of light, fun, pulp-inspired action-adventures. The death of Indiana Jones would be one of the trickiest moments to pull off in film history. He’s a beloved cinematic icon who’s survived countless scrapes with death. Killing off Indiana Jones would be like killing off James Bond or Batman (which Christopher Nolan might have done, depending on your interpretation of The Dark Knight Rises).
If the producers do decide to boldly kill off Indy at the end of his latest adventure, they’re in pretty safe hands with James Mangold. Wolverine isn’t quite on the same level as Indy as a movie icon, but he certainly has Indy-level status as a comic book hero, and Mangold nailed his death scene in Logan. Being killed by a clone of his younger self offered a poignant layer of symbolism, Hugh Jackman played both roles impeccably, and after the story built a tangible bond between Laura and her father, their final moments together resonate much more than the dramatic scenes found in the average comic book movie. Wolverine’s solemn funeral, attended by the new generation of mutants he sacrificed himself to save, inspired by a powerful scene from Shane, was a fitting ending for this character’s long, record-breaking on-screen journey.
If Indiana Jones 5 doesn’t kill off Indy, it can still have a sense of finality. Last Crusade already gave the Indiana Jones franchise its perfect conclusion – acknowledged by Steven Spielberg himself before he went and made a fourth one – with Indy, his father, and his closest friends riding off into the sunset, having given up on the quest for the Holy Grail and realized what really matters. What Indiana Jones 5 needs to do is show Indy at the end of his road. Crystal Skull took a few meta jabs at his old age, but he was still fit to fight another day. Indiana Jones 5 should catch up with Indy when he’s only got one more adventure in him. Logan didn’t shy away from portraying Wolverine’s deteriorating health and the lasting damage of each fight scene. Mangold can subvert Indy’s pulpy plot-armor invincibility in the same way he subverted Logan’s literal invincibility.
Ever since Mangold signed on to direct Indiana Jones 5, fans have been speculating about what elements from Logan he’ll reuse in his Indiana Jones movie and the truth is, he doesn’t need to copy anything specific from Logan – in fact, he should probably actively avoid it. Logan was the perfect story for Wolverine; Indiana Jones 5 needs to tell the perfect story for Indy. But Mangold should still approach Indy’s final adventure with the same sense of melancholic conclusiveness he brought to Wolverine’s last stand.
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