Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny star Harrison Ford might be 80 years old, but that doesn’t mean he thinks the film should joke about Indiana Jones’ age. Ford asked that some on-the-nose jokes about Indy’s age be cut, preferring to create humor through the situation rather than comment on it directly.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is set to be Ford’s final adventure as the character. While the nature of the Indiana Jones 5 artifact is unknown, Indy will come out of retirement to help his goddaughter, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), secure the device from unscrupulous hands. Indiana Jones will confront Nazis again, led this time by Mads Mikkelsen’s Jurgen Voller.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ford recalled asking for certain jokes to be removed from Indiana Jones 5, feeling that they were too self-referential for the film. “In [Dial of Destiny] there were a lot of old jokes in the script,” Ford said. “We took them all out. There is a moment where he observes himself in this situation and says, ‘What the fuck am I doing in here?’ But I hate what I call ‘talking about the story.’ I want to see circumstances in which the audience gets a chance to experience the story, not to be led through the nose with highlights pointed out to them. I’d rather create behavior that is the joke of age rather than talk about it.”

Ford also spoke about the poor reception toward Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Ford conceded that the film “was not as successful as we wanted it to be, perhaps,” but stated that its reception did not influence James Mangold’s new take on the franchise. Mangold has, for his part, suggested that Indiana Jones 5 will be respectful of the franchise’s legacy and the character.

Ford’s words reference a type of humor that’s common in modern filmmaking. This brand of self-referential humor is popular in franchises like Marvel Studios’ cinematic offerings, and countless think pieces and articles have been written about this style of comedy. Some people don’t like that comedy style, and it seems that Ford is one of these people, or more likely, he didn’t feel that this type of humor fit in with Indiana Jones.

After all, the franchise harkens back to film serials from a much earlier time in Hollywood. Ford’s return to the Indiana Jones role doesn’t necessarily need to be modernized. Since it’s Ford’s last outing as Indiana Jones, the movie should be a tribute to that. Nostalgia alone can’t make a movie, and Mangold is free to try new things with the franchise, but it’s excellent to know that Ford’s words were heard.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is scheduled to be released in theaters on June 30, 2023.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter