Indiana Jones hasn’t had his last crusade just yet; the storied archaeologist is set to return to the big screen next summer, hopefully, with the same rousing energy the first three installments brought to theaters all those years ago.
But naturally, questions are being raised; Harrison Ford, who will be reprising his role as the titular professor, just turned 80 last month, and with the Indiana Jones role always carrying with it some high-octane action sequences, some fans on r/movies are wondering if the aging screen legend still has it in him to bring the character to life like he has so many time before.
The user who first posed the question compared the situation to Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, which used an early-to-mid-seventies Robert De Niro in the comparatively low-action starring role, calling the de-aged De Niro’s on-screen punching ability “ridiculous.”
One responder disagreed, cheekily recalling an incident 20 years prior when Ford emerged from an aviation accident without a scratch.
Others speculated that Jones might serve as a mentor-type character in the fifth installment, similar to Sean Connery’s role as Henry Jones, Indiana’s father, in The Last Crusade.
Others took the time to dream up what that might look like, with particularly goofy results.
One other user pointed out that if Ford could pull his weight in 2017’s Blade Runner 2049, he should be able to do so again with Indiana Jones 5.
Despite the eyebrows being raised, we reckon there would be plenty more if Lucasfilm decided to recast Ford in the title role, and if any 80-year-old man can make a character like Indiana Jones work, it has to be Ford. And with a supporting cast featuring Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, and Antonio Banderas, he’ll have some world-class help in doing so.
Indiana Jones 5 releases to theaters on June 30, 2023.