Harrison Ford Officially Replaced as Indiana Jones

After decades of portraying the iconic character, it seems that Harrison Ford’s days as Indiana Jones are over based on a brand-new casting.

Of all the characters created by George Lucas, it’s arguable that the most beloved is Indiana Jones. Known for his signature hat, whip, and phobia of snakes, Dr. Jones is the center of arguably the best action-adventure series of all time, which includes Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), The Last Crusade (1989), The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), and The Dial of Destiny (2023).

While much of the success can be attributed to director Steven Spielberg and the iconic score by John Williams, the movies wouldn’t work without actor Harrison Ford. Just look at The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992-1993) or Shia Labeouf in Crystal Skull. However, while it’s hard to imagine the Indiana Jones franchise continuing without the Han Solo actor, it seems that Lucasfilm and Disney are ready to move on.

The next significant project starring the globetrotting archeologist isn’t a movie; it’s a video game. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (2024) shows a return to a younger Indy, more similar to Raiders of the Lost Ark than Dial of Destiny.

Developed by Machine Games and published by Bethesda, a studio known for games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) and Fallout III (2008), The Great Circle follows everyone’s favorite history professor as he travels across different spiritual sites researching the Circuli Magni (The Great Circle). While the game looks excellent, fans with a keen ear will notice that Harrison Ford’s voice isn’t coming out of Indy’s mouth.

Instead, the role has been taken by iconic video game voice actor Troy Baker, most recognized for originating Joel Miller in The Last of Us (2013) and The Last of Us Part II (2020), Booker DeWitt in Bioshock: Infinite (2013), and voicing Batman, The Joker, Hawkeye, and Loki in various media. Now, he’ll be taking on arguably his most iconic character yet. He appeared in the television version of The Last of Us (2023-present) as a member of a group of settlers whom Ellie (Bella Ramsey) kills with a meat cleaver.

While it is sad to see Harrison Ford go, it makes perfect sense for someone new to come in. If you want a young Indy, you must cast a younger person. Besides, it is likely that Harrison Ford didn’t want to do it anyway.

Do you think it is time to move on from Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!

The day approaches when AI will be able to create actors.

My guess is that Disney will be in the lead -- if it is not swallowed by a bigger fish, if the shareholders' revolt doesn't happen, if Norman Peltz's board challenge doesn't succeed, if, if, if. Disney's bread and butter since its inception until its recent mismanagement was animated films. The live action remakes were latecomers, mainly cash grabs, and generally inferior to the original animated versions, which were at least new forms (in the sense of telling classic children's stories through a new medium). Disney's biggest money maker in recent years has been Marvel -- which Disney bought and promptly ran into the ground -- and those are comic book characters, many of them masked, and are entirely dependent on special effects. The very first Star Wars movie was superb, but that franchise was on a long downslope long before Disney bought it and trashed it entirely. Star Wars characters are now such a comic book collection of aliens and freakish humans that I think live human actors could drop out entirely and not be missed.

I've seen reports that Bob Iger has spoken privately about this and even commented during the strike that this was the last time the studios would have to deal with the actors and writers. That may be an overstatement on his part or an out of context exaggeration of what he actually said, but has Disney ever made a movie in which great acting by great actors was the draw? Disney makes comic book movies. Actors are incidental.

The question that will arise is whether modern audiences have lost interest in acting as an art form.

Traditional movies were an evolution of the live stage, with filming techniques offering very powerful new ways to bridge the gap between audiences and the onstage, now onset, actors. The roots were theatrical and depended on real actors, some of them insanely talented, portraying real human emotions in their work. Part of the fascination with the medium of film, as with the live stage, is contrasting the approaches taken by different actors to the same themes. Cut out the live actors and everything will depend on the writers and programmers. It won't be the same. Some of it may be good, but over time, when every character is an artificially generated fantasy character that can do anything a writer wants it to do, I expect that quality will decline. I lost interest in comic book fantasy wish-fulfilment stories about the age of 10. The progressive left is now having a gnostic moment and is in full revolt against the reality principle. I hope this doesn't completely swallow the film industry.

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