After years of setbacks and obstacles, Indiana Jones 5 is finally filming, with Harrison Ford (and his masked stunt double) being seen on set. But even with cameras now rolling, a lot about Indiana Jones 5’s remains a mystery. What year is the movie set in? What treasure or artifact will Indy be searching for? Will we see any more familiar faces? Who will the villains be? Well, it looks like we have an answer to that last question, or at least a partial one, as it’s been revealed that Nazis will factor into the plot of the upcoming Indiana Jones movie.
Among the stops on Indiana Jones 5’s principal photography journey is the New Yorkshire Moors Railway near Grosmont in England, and a video recorded by nymrfootage showed a train covered with Nazi imagery. Considering that two of the four released Indiana Jones movies have seen Dr. Henry Jones Jr. fighting Nazis, it’s fitting that we’ll see him clash with them again for his next cinematic adventure. Indy first fought Adolph Hitler’s goons during his search for the Ark of the Covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and then he came into conflict with them while looking for the Holy Grail in The Last Crusade.
Going off this video alone, it’s hard to determine how this Nazi train fits into Indiana Jones 5’s story. However, taking into account other peeks at the film’s shoot revealing World War II-era Nazi military vehicles and Harrison Ford’s stunt double wearing a different outfit from the traditional jacket and fedora we’re used to seeing the character in, it appears that Indiana Jones 5 will wind the clock back to check in with Indy in his more formative years. Having already seen Indy fight Nazis in 1936 and 1938, the prospect of him tussling with them during the second World War is exciting.
All this isn’t to say that Nazis won’t be part of the movie’s main story either. Last month, it was reported that Indiana Jones 5 will revolve around the space race, specifically before the Apollo 11 moon landing, which lines up with director James Mangold’s potential time period tease from January. Supposedly Mads Mikkelsen is playing Indiana Jones 5’s main villain, a scientist who worked for the Nazi regime and, in the mid-late 1960s, is recruited to aid the United States in its moon landing initiative. Assuming this is true, perhaps we’ll also see Mikkelsen’s character during the Indiana Jones 5 flashback sequence, teeing him up as a greater threat when the movie jumps forward a few decades.
Along with Harrison Ford and Mads Mikkelsen, Indiana Jones 5’s cast includes Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Thomas Kretschmann, Boyd Holbrook and Shaunette Renée Wilson, the latter of whom is rumored to be playing the CIA handler watching over Mikkelsen’s character. In addition to directing the feature, James Mangold also worked on the Indiana Jones 5 screenplay with Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. Although he handed off directorial duties to Mangold, Steven Spielberg is still attached as a producer.
Indiana Jones 5 opens in theaters on July 29, 2022, the same day that Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam comes out. While we wait for more news on Indiana Jones 5’s progress, be sure to look through our upcoming 2021 movies guide to learn what’s playing on the big screen later this year.
