Phoebe Waller-Bridge said she never had a conversation with Lucasfilm about replacing Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Speaking to Vanity Fair about her career path from Fleabag to the latest Indiana Jones adventure, Waller-Bridge set the record straight about rumors regarding her character, Helena Shaw, taking over from franchise star Ford. Simply put, the fedora and whip will always belong to Ford. "There’s no replacing Indiana Jones in any way," Waller-Bridge said.
Though Waller-Bridge clarified her role in Dial of Destiny, that does not mean she believes the film could be the end of the line for Shaw. "But I feel like the character herself -- she did feel fresh on the page, and there is a sense of, is there room in the world for someone like this," Waller-Bridge continued. "So I do think there’s room for a slightly clumsier, bruised, limping female action star, maybe, in the future."
In Dial of Destiny, Waller-Bridge's Shaw is the Goddaughter of the world-renowned archeologist who appears to be the story's "catalyst" by encouraging him to find the mysterious dial. However, Shaw is also a grifter in trouble with her own motives behind claiming the dial, which results in Indy's final adventure before hanging up the fedora for good. Eventually, Indy and Shaw must join forces to stop ex-Nazi scientist Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) from obtaining the dial to reverse the course of history.
Indiana Jones' Franchise Future
While Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has denied recasting Indiana Jones in the past, she has expressed openness to continuing the franchise beyond Ford with a potential series spinoff on Disney+. Whether or not it would involve Shaw remains unknown; however, director James Mangold has no interest in an Indiana Jones spinoff of Waller-Bridge's role. "I'm not interested," Mangold said. "I refuse. I just can't do it. The amount of lore and Easter eggs and fan service starts to become antithetical to any of this stuff at a certain point. It isn't storytelling anymore. It's large-scale advertising."
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will be the last in the series as well as Ford's final outing in the title role. The actor, however, has no intentions to retire from acting anytime soon. Ford replaces the late William Hurt as General Thunderbolt Ross in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts. Additionally, the actor currently headlines the Yellowstone prequel spinoff 1923 on Paramount+.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny arrives in theaters on June 30.
Source: Vanity Fair