It’s been a long time between drinks from the Grail—in fact, the last expedition undertaken by Dr Henry Jones Jr. didn’t involve a grail at all, but some rather ill-conceived nonsense about crystal skulls, aliens, and a rare dud performance from Cate Blanchett. Small wonder it’s taken 15 years, but at last Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is swinging into cinemas on June 29.
There are a lot of familiar elements in the trailer–that voiceover by John Rhys-Davies as Sallah raises goosebumps, as does John Williams’ slow take on the classic Raiders March–but a lot has changed since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
For one thing, series creators Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are only serving as executive producers, with Logan director James Mangold calling the shots and co-writing the script alongside Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth.
For another, the period setting has moved on, and while we’re getting a sequence or two set in 1944 (and we can’t wait to get a glimpse of Indy’s World War II adventures) it’s primarily set in 1969 against the backdrop of the Space Race, with Indy going up against Mads Mikkelsen’s former Nazi rocket scientist and his vicious 2IC, played by Boyd Holbrook (remember his villainous cyborg in Logan?).
As we should be used to by now, plot details are being guarded more closely than that warehouse at the end of Raiders, but we do know that Indy’s sidekick on this adventure is his goddaughter, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and that Toby Jones, Antonio Banderas, and Thomas Kretschmann are turning up in various supporting roles.
And there’s absolutely no sign of Shia LaBeouf. Indeed, the only thing that gives us pause is the fact that the last time Mangold directed a sequel about a beloved but ageing action hero, he straight-up killed him off. But surely, surely, they can’t do that to Indy…
