Could we get an Indy 5 flashback to WW2? Fans already know that Indiana Jones was involved in the war effort from mentions made during Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. However Indiana Jones 5 will be set roughly a decade after the events of that movie. In other words, the WW2 era is a no go for Harrison Ford at almost 79. Yet, I know when myself and colleague Nick Doll were speculating, we both loved the idea of Indy 5‘s prologue being a flashback to WW2.
There would be technical challenges to any Indy 5 flashback to WW2. For a start, the character should look not much different from the one we saw in The Last Crusade. Jones was born in 1899, and that makes the character 38/39 at the time of The Last Crusade. WW2 began for most of the world other than the USA in 1938. Of course it was the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 which brought America into the War. That means that Indy was 42/46 years old during WW2, ergo de-ageing technology would have to be used for any flashbacks. Surely therefore, any scenes set in the past would have to make a lot of sense story wise? Why even bother attempting to shoot a decades ago flashback unless it was important?
Bamburgh Castle
However, what is interesting is that the upcoming Indy 5 shoot at Bamburgh Castle has seen some set decoration over the last few days. Sadly the original images have been deleted by Bamburgh themselves. However you can find a still of the image they posted online in Kevin’s fan video below. Now, again this is not a smoking gun, but I think you will agree that the dressing of what looks like fortifications and sandbags is very reminiscent of WW2. The Nazi’s often fortified old castles and other ancient defenses. Especially leading up to the Allies invasion of mainland Europe which began in 1944 and lasted until the end of the European theatre of War. Check out this fan speculation video below and see the image for yourself.
The video speculates that the Bamburgh Castle shoot could be the prologue of Indy 5 and be set back in WW2. This isn’t fact, but it is a compelling argument I am open to exploring further. Going back to the discussion Nick Doll and I had, we talked about the Spear of Destiny. In my opinion that artefact would have been a WW2 story and not a 1960’s Indy story. However Nick suggested that if we saw a prologue of Indy acquiring the spear during WW2, then it’s possible someone could use Indy to look for it again in the 1960’s.
Speculation
From what we know so far of Indy 5, it’s hard to say, because we don’t know much. Indiana Jones 5 will be set in 1960’s and rumors have Mads Mikkelsen as the villain. Those rumors point to Mikkelsen’s character being a former Nazi who came to the U.S. during Operation Paperclip at the end of WW2. There is a loose connection to made between all these snippets, but really we are speculation wildly here folks.
There are certainly other reasons we could come up with for Bamburgh Castle to be dressed up with fortifications and sandbags. Yet, the imagery of that, I can’t help but associate with WW2 era combat. By the 1960’s was anyone using old Castles for defense like this? the 60’s was taken up with proxy conflicts between the U.S. and U.S.S.R., but I can’t think of any locations with Castles, that’s predominantly a European design after all.
RELATED: Indiana Jones 5 Is Filming At Bamburgh Castle In England
Food for thought, but until we get more set photo’s once filming begins next week, we cannot say for sure. Will fans be able to get close enough to the location during filming to catch anything on camera? Unsure, though I’m guessing we will see some images slip out next week. If, (and it’s a big if), any of those images show cast or extra’s in Nazi uniforms? Then I think we could be onto something here. However until then, take all this with a big pinch of salt.
What do you think of the speculation about an Indy 5 flashback to WW2? Are we seeing what we want to see rather than what we do see? And finally, do you even like the idea of Indy 5‘s prologue being a flashback to WW2? Thoughts below if you can.
