Does the 'Indiana Jones' franchise have a future after 'Dial of Destiny'?

Is it really the end of the road for Indiana Jones? "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" serves as a conclusion to the long-running franchise, bidding farewell to Harrison Ford's title hero. But the same way "The Rise of Skywalker" didn't truly end the "Star Wars" series, might Lucasfilm continue "Indiana Jones" via spin-offs about other characters? Could they even recast Indy? Or is this it?

Let's break down the series' possible future, if any — with spoilers for "Dial of Destiny" ahead.

Harrison Ford won't return as Indiana Jones

One thing that can be said with certainty is that Harrison Ford is finally finished as Indiana Jones. Though the character survives the fifth film, the 80-year-old actor has vowed not to return.

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"This is the final film in the series, and this is the last time I'll play the character," Ford told Total Film. "I anticipate that it will be the last time that he appears in a film."

Ford is unlikely to be recast

There have been discussions over the years about passing the Indiana Jones role to a new actor. But Ford has suggested he doesn't want anyone but him to play the character. "Nobody [else] is going to be Indiana Jones," he said on the "Today" show in 2019. "When I'm gone, he's gone!"

Lucasfilm already tried to recast an iconic Ford role with 2018's "Solo: A Star Wars Story," and the young Han Solo movie bombed at the box office. This seems to have convinced Lucasfilm not to try something similar with Indy. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy suggested to Vanity Fair that recasting Ford's role for "Solo" was a mistake, a lesson that could be applied to Indiana Jones.

"We would never make 'Indiana Jones' without Harrison Ford," Kennedy promised.

Steven Spielberg once said a woman could take over

Steven Spielberg similarly told Screen International in 2015, "It's certainly not my intention to ever have another actor step into his shoes in the way there have been many actors that have played Spider-Man or Batman. There is only going to be one actor playing Indiana Jones and that's Harrison Ford." Producer Frank Marshall agreed. "We are not going to do the Bond thing," he told Entertainment Weekly in 2016.

Despite this, Spielberg told The Sun in 2018 that the franchise will "certainly continue after" Ford's final film, and he suggested a woman could take over. "​​We'd have to change the name from Jones to Joan," the director said. "And there would be nothing wrong with that."

Chris Pratt says Ford scared him off of taking the role

In 2015, Deadline reported that Lucasfilm had "set its sights on Chris Pratt" to take over as Indiana Jones, claiming the studio hoped to "build the new franchise around" him. But on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast in 2022, Pratt insisted this isn't "anything that's real." If he ever was in talks, it sounds like Ford scared him off.

"I once saw a quote from Harrison Ford who said that 'when I die, Indiana Jones dies,'" Pratt said. "And I'm like, 'Am I gonna get haunted by the ghost of Harrison Ford one day when he dies if I play [Indiana Jones]?'"

There could be an 'Indiana Jones' TV series

On Entertainment Weekly's "Dagobah Dispatch" podcast, Kennedy reiterated that "Dial of Destiny" is "Harrison's last entry" and said that "right now, if we were to do anything, it might be in series television down the road." The franchise already ventured into TV with "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles," which aired on ABC in the early 1990s and had a younger actor play Indy. But Kennedy stressed, "We're not doing anything to replace Indiana Jones. This is it. It's five movies that Harrison Ford did, and Harrison is so specific and so unique to creating this role. Steven [Spielberg] agrees, we just wouldn't do that."

An Abner Ravenwood show could happen

So who could an "Indiana Jones" TV series be about if not Indy himself?

In 2022, The Wrap reported an "Indiana Jones" Disney+ prequel show is in the works that would center on a young Abner Ravenwood, father of Marion (Karen Allen), "mentoring a group of young archeologists." Abner is mentioned as Indiana Jones' mentor, whom he hasn't spoken to in 10 years, in "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Variety also reported that Lucasfilm was taking meetings with writers about a potential Indy show.

Could Phoebe Waller-Bridge get her own spin-off?

The more obvious potential spin-off would be one centered on Helena Shaw, played in "Dial of Destiny" by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. As Indiana Jones' goddaughter and an archaeologist in her own right, passing the franchise to her would make sense, though the film stops short of making it clear that she'll take over.

When Variety asked "Dial of Destiny" director James Mangold if he's talked to Lucasfilm about Helena potentially taking over the franchise, he responded, "I'm not interested. I refuse. I just can't do it." He also assured fans on Twitter that "no one will ever replace Indiana Jones," and Waller-Bridge agreed, telling Vanity Fair, "There's no replacing Indiana Jones in any way."

Still, Kennedy told Variety a Helena spin-off movie is "entirely possible." For her part, Waller-Bridge would be interested in returning for a spin-off, telling Variety, "If it's anything like this adventure, hell yeah." She also told Vanity Fair, "I do think there's room for a slightly clumsier, bruised, limping female action star, maybe, in the future."

Ke Huy Quan is up for returning as Short Round

But there's one other character who fans have suggested could succeed Indy: Short Round. Ke Huy Quan played Indiana Jones' sidekick in "Temple of Doom," and his acting comeback with "Everything Everywhere All at Once" sparked calls for the character's return, potentially even to lead the series. Sadly, Short Round is absent from "Dial of Destiny." But Quan previously said on "Happy Sad Confused," "If Disney or Lucasfilm ever come to me and say, 'We want to do a Short Round spin-off or television show,' I'm there, man!"

The last time the franchise teased another character who could be anointed Indy's successor, though, it was Shia LaBeouf's Mutt Williams, which didn't exactly work out. Perhaps this was a sign that when Ford steps away, the series simply belongs in a museum.