Should Indy get more family in the next movie?

seasider

Active member
This might reveal my age a bit but I used to follow Indy 4 rumors back in the mid-90s when most of the movie blogs were primitive html sites under domains like angelfire.com and geocities.com. As you can imagine, there were tons of rumors on which direction the movie would go. The most consistent rumors were that Indy would be dealing with aliens on some level and the other rumor was that Indy had a never-before-mentioned brother and that they wanted Kevin Costner or Tom Selleck to play him.

The rumor eventually died out but I always found that idea more intriguing that Indy meeting his long lost son. It's another opportunity to explore his backstory and to see Indy in a buddy/brother adventure with some sibling rivalry and banter similar to what we saw in Last Crusade. It's a far fetched idea since there's never been even a hint in the movies or in the Young Indy series that Indy had any other family except his parents. You could also make the case that Belloq was the brother Indy never had.

The idea of Indiana Jones and family is of course a recurring theme in the franchise. I was just curious to see what everyone's thoughts were on that issue.
 

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
seasider said:
The idea of Indiana Jones and family is of course a recurring theme in the franchise. I was just curious to see what everyone's thoughts were on that issue.

Not until Last Crusade it wasn't. Honestly I hate the idea of exploring Indy's family. Knowing about his genealogy just takes a lot of the mystery and intrigue out of the character.

It might be tricky to do given KOTCS's end, but for Indy 5 I think the best scenario would be to ignore the family angle altogether and go back to the roots of the character's rugged individuality. Especially since his own mortality will definitely be a bigger theme given his age.

Maybe explore his "long lost brother" idea for a reboot. But not for Indy 5 with Ford.
 

seasider

Active member
Forbidden Eye said:
Not until Last Crusade it wasn't.

Technically true but there are the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles but is that even considered canon these days? But looking at Raiders eventhough we're not introduced to any blood relatives, that movie is full of characters who have a long history with Indy so even from the beginning Lucas and Spielberg see this character as someone who has a backstory worthy of further exploration.

Having said that, I totally get why people don't want to see the movies turn into a family adventure outing.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
seasider said:
Technically true but there are the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles but is that even considered canon these days?

There's no strong reason to think that it isn't, with the possible exception of the George Hall segments, which were edited out when the series was re-edited into features. Current Star Wars policy is to treat The Clone Wars, a tv series with Lucas's direct involvement, as canon. Plus KotCS brought a detail from the Chronicles, that of Indy riding with Pancho Villa, into the canon of the theatrically released films.

Thematically, I think figures from Indy's past are a well that's run rather dry; 3 of the 4 films, with Temple as the exception, have relied heavily on such relationships, with 2 of those being explicitly familial in nature. A long-lost brother feels a bit hacky to me.
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
Attila the Professor said:
A long-lost brother feels a bit hacky to me.
I was about to post earlier how that is a massive cliché, then I recalled that we're talking about a genre that essentially thrives on them.

Of course, that's not to say it still isn't hacky. Indy's backstory as the only child is pretty well established, so let's leave cheap retcons to that other major LucasFilm franchise.

If they need to play the blood relation angle again, giving him (more) illegitimate children is the obvious way to go. It would certainly be amusing to have some callbacks to the LC dynamic, with Indy now playing the role his father had. Yes, one could argue that we already had shades of that in KotCS, but (like so many other things in said movie) those attempts kinda fell flat.
 
I will be disappointed if Indy 5 is family-heavy again. Even Temple of Doom felt like a family adventure, though I didn't mind it. I want to see Indy alone, or on par with Raiders and no more than one side-kick. It would pull heart strings to hear a character telling Indy he needs to go home and be with his family, but he is addicted to adventure and hates settling. Maybe Spielberg should look at the first three Die Hard movies. McClain always trying to reconnect with his wife, but too distracted. An angle like that can work with Dr. Jones and his newly found wife and son.
 

IndyForever

Active member
Kevin Costner would be a great franchise addition as a fake long lost brother (Henry Snr lost son but not Indys mother). He could play the antagonist or villain who betray's Indy when he least expects it. Otherwise no more family connections not even Karen Allen returning she was too forced into the KOTCS story.

But knowing Spielberg we will get every single sidekick back in small cameos as fan service!
 

IndyForever

Active member
mark1001 said:
He would if he could but the forth movie established that Indy's dad and Marcus Brody are dead ,sadly.
Connery is retired but if he wanted to could play the role in a flashback set before KOTCS with Harrison but he is retired I doubt he would return no matter how large the cameo fee!
 

Raiders90

Well-known member
Forbidden Eye said:
Not until Last Crusade it wasn't. Honestly I hate the idea of exploring Indy's family. Knowing about his genealogy just takes a lot of the mystery and intrigue out of the character.

It might be tricky to do given KOTCS's end, but for Indy 5 I think the best scenario would be to ignore the family angle altogether and go back to the roots of the character's rugged individuality. Especially since his own mortality will definitely be a bigger theme given his age.

Maybe explore his "long lost brother" idea for a reboot. But not for Indy 5 with Ford.

I would disagree there. While Short Round wasn't a biological son, I'd argue that the trio of Indy, Willie, and Shorty made for a family dynamic of sorts; Indy and Shorty may be buddies, but there's definitely a father-and-son sort of vibe going on between the two. So I'd say that since TOD Indy's become increasingly family oriented; this only became openly (and biologically) the case in LC and reached its apex in KOTCS. But it began, I would argue, with the family dynamic shown in TOD. Indy has not been responsible for some other dependent, family-esque or literal family character in some way since Raiders.
 

Olliana

New member
Interesting point regarding TOD. I've never looked at it that way, but you're right. They're not a family per se, but they sort of become one throughout the movie. In that regard KOTCS has much more in common with TOD. TLC dealt with Indy's father, but it was handled like a buddy movie. Especially when Sallah and Marcus turn up.
 

AndyLGR

Active member
Its a no from me.

Sean Connery worked well in TLC and their dynamic was a high point of the film. But I think KOTCS fell in to the cliched trap that many sequels have, and thats having your kid and/or spouse involved in the action too.

I'd like to see them go back to basics in 5, have a sidekick but not be related. They don't need to follow on from KOTCS with a Marion or Mutt or any other estranged family member.
 

seasider

Active member
AndyLGR said:
I'd like to see them go back to basics in 5, have a sidekick but not be related. They don't need to follow on from KOTCS with a Marion or Mutt or any other estranged family member.

I doubt Spielberg will try to force another family adventure with Marion and Mutt on us again but it's clear he does like having that family dynamic in just about all his adventure movies. In Indy 5 we may not get him with actual blood relatives but I think we will still see family themes portrayed in the story on some level.

I'm partial to the idea of the brother angle. It doesn't have to be Indy literally having a biological brother but a buddy/brother type adventure where Indy is with someone in the same age range is something that we haven't seen fully explored in an Indy movie yet. The closest thing we've had is Sallah but his character was always going in and out of the movie.
 

AndyLGR

Active member
seasider said:
I'm partial to the idea of the brother angle. It doesn't have to be Indy literally having a biological brother but a buddy/brother type adventure where Indy is with someone in the same age range is something that we haven't seen fully explored in an Indy movie yet. The closest thing we've had is Sallah but his character was always going in and out of the movie.
I have always thought that Dennis Quaid would be a contender for that kind of role as a brother for Indy.
 

Z dweller

Well-known member
AndyLGR said:
I have always thought that Dennis Quaid would be a contender for that kind of role as a brother for Indy.
Yes, Quaid would be perfect as a long lost brother - but personally I feel that one old geezer is more than enough.

Any more, and we'd end up in Space Cowboys territory.

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