The end of an era is approaching for the Indiana Jones franchise. After playing the title archaeologist in four movies and one episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles over four decades, it’s been confirmed that Indiana Jones 5 will be Harrison Ford’s last outing as Dr. Henry Jones Jr. However, following the arrival of that 2023 movie release, it sounds like Indiana Jones will be heading to Disney+ next.
According to Variety’s sources, Disney is in the early stages of developing an Indiana Jones TV series that would be available exclusively to Disney+ subscribers. The Mouse House is still looking for a writer to tackle the project, so there are no plot details set yet, including whether it will be a prequel or spinoff, or in any way tie into Indiana Jones 5. This is also one of “a number of options” that Disney is exploring to keep the franchise going, which could also include more Indiana Jones movies or some other kind of media project.
Assuming an Indiana Jones series for Disney+ gets off the ground, as mentioned earlier, this would be the second time the franchise has been represented on the small screen. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles ran from March 4, 1992 to July 24, 1993, and four TV films followed from 194 to 1996. Corey Carrier played Indy as a young boy, Sean Patrick Flanery played Indy in his young adult years and George Hall bookended each episode an elderly, eyepatch-wearing Indy. Harrison Ford appeared as a 50-year-old Indy in the bookends for the episode "Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues.”
Because Harrison Ford is hanging up the fedora and whip, if it’s Indy who’s the focus of this hypothetical Disney+ series, then besides the prequel route, another option is pressing the reboot button on this property. Meaning, we’d be following along with a different Indiana Jones who has a similar life has Harrison Ford’s version, but isn’t beholden to the events from the movies and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. But as also mentioned, this show could easily be a spinoff focusing on someone in Indy’s life. For example, Ke Huy Quan (who recently reunited with Harrison Ford) returned to acting earlier this year in Everything Everywhere All at Once, and he already has a foothold at Disney+ through American Born Chinese and Loki Season 2. Why not make a series following an adult Short Round who followed in his mentor’s footsteps and became and adventuring archaeologist?
It may be a long time until we learn if Disney+ does plan to move forward with an Indiana Jones series, let alone what it’s about. Once that news comes in though, we’ll pass it along. In the meantime, Indiana Jones 5 will be released in theaters on June 30, 2023, and Harrison Ford’s castmates include Phoebe Waller-Bridge, John Rhys-Davies, Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Kretschmann, Boyd Holbrook, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Antonio Banderas and Olivier Ritchers.
