Whether Disney wanted to admit it or not, all of their past claims that Harrison Ford would always be Indiana Jones were falling on deaf ears. Ever since they acquired the classic adventure series it was only a matter of time before a new film was announced, and sure enough Indiana Jones 5 is gearing up for a 2019 release, with Ford set to reprise his other iconic Lucasfilm role and Steven Spielberg directing. Spielberg has been a bit flip-floppy on this, at one point entertaining the idea of Chris Pratt replacing Ford, and then later carefully promising not to do so.
The simple reality is that Ford can't play the role forever, and that realization seems to be settling in now as Disney chief Bob Iger tells THR that a plan is in effect for after Indiana Jones 5, but he promises it won't be a cinematic universe similar to Star Wars...
“Not like ‘Star Wars,’ no. But we hope… right now, we’re focused on a reboot, or a continuum and then a reboot of some sort.”
Iger must have realized what he was saying and that fans would freak out, so he attempted to back pedal a little bit, adding...
“...we’ll bring him back, then we have to figure out what comes next… It’s not really a reboot, it’s a boot — a reboot. I don’t know. We got Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in the film. But then what’s the direction? I’ve had discussions about what the direction is, but I don’t want to get into it… it won’t be just a one-off.”
Sounds like Iger isn't totally sure where things are going, but clearly something WILL happen. That likely means Ford will be passing the torch in some way, or they'll pivot to telling early Indiana Jones stories. We'll see what happens, but it's bound to get much clearer after Indiana Jones 5.
