Indiana Jones 5 Would Have Focused On Indy And Marion Had Spielberg Directed
This post contains spoilers for "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny."
There is no telling the story of Indiana Jones without Marion Ravenwood. Dating back to "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the story of Harrison Ford's adventure-seeking archaeologist has been intrinsically tied to Karen Allen's rambunctious counterpart to our hero. So, with "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" seemingly closing the book on Indy's story for good, it only makes sense that Marion would come back once more to deliver a happy ending. But Allen doesn't appear in the film all that much. Had Steven Spielberg remained on board as director though, she likely would have had a lot more screen time.
James Mangold, of "Logan" fame, ultimately directed "Dial of Destiny" after Spielberg stepped away. This marks the first time that someone other than Spielberg has ever directed a film in the franchise. Speaking recently with Variety, Allen discussed her relatively small role in the film. The actress explained that, while Spielberg was developing his version of "Indiana Jones 5," Marion was a bigger part of the story.
"When Steven was going to direct the film, I think the scripts were more focused on an Indy/Marion story. But when Steven stepped aside and James came in, he started fresh with new writers and they just went in the direction they went in. They were going to tell a different story. That's not to say that I had ever read a script that Steven was working on, because I hadn't. But I just knew from conversations that we'd had that the ongoing story had involved Marion in a much bigger way than the story that they ended up with."
'I was deeply happy that Marion came back'
When last we saw Indy, it was 15 years ago when the much-maligned "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was in theaters. Hated though that movie may be, the ending of the film sees Indy and Marion finally getting married. So, it only makes sense that she would be part of this latest chapter as well. In the movie, Marion and Indy have separated, largely over mutual grief they're suffering due to their son Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) dying in the Vietnam War. Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) ultimately helps to reunite them in the movie's closing moments.
Speaking further in the interview, Allen shared her feelings on her role as it exists. Even though it's smaller, she expressed nothing but happiness for the way things shook out for Marion and Indy.
"I was deeply happy that Marion came back at least the end of their story. If this is indeed truly the last film of this particular group of films — if this is the last story with Harrison as Indy and me as Marion — I was profoundly happy that it didn't end without them coming back together. That meant a lot to me, to feel like they were going to ride off in the sunset together."
Unfortunately, we can't compare what we got to what Spielberg was planning, so it's hard to know if this was the better outcome. Regardless, Allen seems happy with it and, in the end, Marion and Indy got to ride off into the sunset. That feels appropriate.
"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" is in theaters now.