Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has been a long time coming. The franchise began in 1981 with the premiere of Raiders of the Lost Ark. From there a classic 80s trilogy was made with the door left open for sequels.
The sequel train would not pull into the station until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008 which got mixed reviews to put it mildly. The idea was to pass the torch on to the next generation via Mutt Williams but that did not happen. Now, Indy is back via Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Will the torch get passed on for real this time? There are some questions left on the table.
WARNING! Spoilers ahead.
6 Will Indy Return?
Based on Harrison Ford’s real age, it seemed likely that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was going to kill the character off. There are two points in the movie that refute that idea. One, Helena could not leave Indy in the past with Archimedes for fear of messing up the timeline. Two, Indy grabs his hat before the credits as if to say “I’ll be back.”
Will there be another movie sooner rather than later wherein Indy finally dies? There are a lot of big mysteries in history that a sixth sequel could explore such as the lost city of Atlantis which was indeed covered in a game via Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. If Indy doesn’t come back then Helena could replace him in a spinoff too. The box office and critical response to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will probably dictate how soon another movie will come.
5 Is Mutt Really Dead?
To reiterate, fans did not come out of the theater in 2008 adoring Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for various reasons. One of those reasons was Mutt Williams lacking the charm of Indy as a leading character. The implementation of aliens into the story also didn’t hit fans with a swell of enjoyment. Even the movie rejected him when Indy took back his hat in the end his hat as if to say “Fat chance Mutt.”
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny addresses Mutt’s absence by killing him off from some unknown war conflict. Because the body is never shown, it is unclear if Mutt will truly stay dead forever. He could, in fact, surprise his father by returning in the next movie with some obscure ancient piece of tech. It’s not that farfetched of an idea since characters return all of the time in other Disney projects like the Marvel movies.
4 Where Is The Lance of Longinus?
The movie begins with a flashback toward the end of World War 2. Indy has infiltrated a Nazi base to steal back the Lance of Longinus from them. It turns out that their Lance of Longinus is a replica. So, the big question is this. Is the Lance of Longinus real in this universe and if it is where is it?
The movie seems like it is hinting that this will be the next adventure for Indy, or whoever leads a possible sixth sequel. The Lance of Longinus is a popular artifact in media from movies to games. Even anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion uses the Lance of Longinus in a big way along with a lot of Christian lore. The sixth Indians Jones movie is probably not going to be as intense with the Lance of Longinus as Neon Genesis Evangelion was though.
3 Will The Next Movie Feature The Moon?
There is another possible route that a sixth movie could traverse. Are there Nazis on the moon? This has been explored in other media before such as the movie Iron Sky and the reboot of Wolfenstein. The whole thing about Nazis is that they have contingency plans in popular fiction.
When one plan fails, another will come into play. Jurgen Voller helps the United States develop rocket fuel but perhaps he had another reason to develop the formula. Did he help launch Nazis secretly into space without anyone noticing? It would be a wild idea to set the next movie in space, but Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny does spend a lot of time discussing the moon.
2 Why Didn’t Indy Destroy The Antikythera?
“It belongs in a museum!” That is pretty much Indy’s catchphrase throughout the series. While he does like the thrill of the hunt, he isn’t in it for the money. He wants to return history to the world for all to enjoy. That is unless that artifact has special powers attached such as The Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Indy knows that an artifact like that could destroy civilizations in the wrong hands. With this movie’s artifact, the Antikythera, Indy doesn’t believe it holds any power. Why then did he not put it in a museum or destroy it after he took it away from Basil? He instead hides it away in the archives of his college which seems unlike the character.
1 Are There More Time Rifts?
The Antikythera is a compass that shows the user how to find fissures in time and space. Voller takes Indy and his men through one of the portals, transporting them to an ancient battle involving a Roman invasion. There is a comment to imply that there is only one open time fissure. Is that true though?
Are there other time fissures in the world that could explain some real-world phenomena? For example, people disappear all of the time in the Bermuda Triangle. Is there a time fissure there in the Indiana Jones universe that a new movie could explore? It seems unlikely that a sequel would also explore time travel, but it could happen.