Now that we know a fifth Indiana Jones film actually exists, is coming out, and even has a real title, it’s time to dig a little deeper. Thursday’s reveal of the first trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was chock full of recognisable Indy action with plenty of Nazi punching, cave exploring, and train jumping. But there’s still not much in the way of what exactly this movie is about, who these characters are, or what the heck a Dial of Destiny is.
Is this movie actually about time travel as has been so rampantly speculated? Why does Indy look so many different ages? Let’s look at all the little details we found in the first trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Buggy Chase
The trailer begins with a few short shots of Indy either chasing, or being chased, by someone. It looks like Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character, Helena, might be in the back seat of one of the vehicles; we get more of this sequence near the end of the trailer.
As this plays out, along with the rest of the first few shots, we hear Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) talking to Indy. “I miss the desert. I miss the sea. And I miss waking up every morning wondering what wonderful adventure the new day will bring to us,” he says. And with each thing he mentions, we see it.
Indy in the City
It’s not 100% clear what city Indy is walking through here, but that is Eldridge Street, a famous street in downtown Manhattan. And with family-owned stores like Rothstein’s and Hoffman’s, that’s a safe bet. He seems to be going to work.
Underwater Diving
As Sallah mentions the sea, we see two divers in definitely dated scuba gear, shining a light on some sort of wreckage. That then cuts to this skeleton, which falls apart as eels swim through it. Obviously, people (Indy and Helena?) are searching for something underwater, which we haven’t seen in an Indy movie before.
Is That the Death Star?
Professor Jones is in. And while we can’t make out what’s on any of the blackboards, the image he’s projecting is some sort of ancient artefact with big Death Star vibes. Could this be the Dial of Destiny? Or maybe one of the Indiana Jones franchise’s little winks to Star Wars? They happen often.
Exploring With Helena
Sallah is still talking and we get two shots of Indy and Helena exploring underground. First, they cross a bridge over some water and then discover this large boulder with a statue in the background. Later, we see Helena wedge a large boulder down, probably from the same sequence. This couldn’t be the cave from the original Raiders of the Lost Ark, could it? Or is that a dial?
Exploding Castle
A man in a hood (likely Indy as revealed later) is taken away from a castle that’s exploding. It looks like several Nazis are walking around which suggests this is the flashback opening of the film director James Mangold recently spoke about.
New Adventures
We’re gonna cheat here and give you not one but two images in the same slide. That’s because each tells us very little but is utterly gorgeous anyway. The train image seems to connect to something later in the trailer, and because of that, we don’t think that’s Indy at the centre of the frame. More likely he’s frame left.
The below image we do think is Indy, riding a motorcycle toward a plane in the rain, and we think it’s from the end of the opening scene. That’s based, again, on what comes later on.
Hoarder Jones
We’re guessing this is maybe at Indy’s school, but it’s sure chock full of artifacts. It seems Dr. Jones has been very, very busy when he’s not starring in movies.
Sallah!
“Those days are come and gone,” Indy says to Sallah at an airport. “Perhaps,” Sallah replies. “Perhaps not.” That sure makes it sound like Indy’s old pal has a lead on some sort of adventure like they did decades before. We’re guessing Sallah doesn’t have a big role here but it seems important.
Light Bright
The next section of the trailer plays in a montage with Indy saying the following. “I don’t believe in magic. But a few times in my life I’ve seen things. Things I can’t explain. And I’ve come to believe it’s not so much what you believe, it’s how hard you believe it.” Obviously, he’s referring to all the supernatural and alien things he’s seen in his life, but the question is, is the Dial of Destiny something like that? We’d venture to guess yes.
Train Walking
Next are two back-to-back shots on the top of a train. Both of them have Indy in the hat and both are with Toby Jones’ character. We mention that because it seems that the character Indy is chasing is the one on top of the train seen earlier in the trailer. (Unless there are two train scenes, which we doubt.) And though you don’t see his face, we don’t think it’s Mads Mikkelsen’s character, Voller. Later in the trailer, a shot from the same scene shows Indy stealing a man’s gun with his whip, and it does not look like Mikkelsen.
Helena
Here’s our first close-up reveal of Helena, who appears earlier in the trailer exploring with Indy. She’s running up to some sort of edge and looking down. We’d guess, looking at Indy.
Undercover Young Indy
Your eyes don’t deceive you. That’s Indiana Jones digitally de-aged for the action scene that opens the movie. By his outfit, you can tell that Indy is posing as a Nazi, but has now been captured. Whether this is before or after the exploding building from earlier isn’t clear, but this is definitely Indy from World War II, which is before the bulk of the film.
Pulp Fiction
Mads’ character, Voller, opens a case that gives off a very bright light. It’s obviously an object of great value but, it being in a Nazi case, leads us to believe this is from that opening scene. And if Indy movies tell us anything, whatever the object in the opening is, that’s not the focus of the movie. So this MacGuffin that Voller is opening is almost certainly not the Dial of Destiny, but is more likely from the opening flashback.
Antonio!
After a very brief shot of a large machine gun firing off the back of a vehicle, we get this brief shot of superstar actor Antonio Banderas. No clue who he is playing but he freaking rules.
Still Young Indy
After two super short shots of a plane about to take off and Mikkelsen’s character now in a more formal Nazi uniform, we get this odd shot of Indy. It looks like it’s still young Indy, only how would this scene, possibly on a train, fit in with the Nazi flashback? Are there multiple flashbacks? Why is he shocked? Is Indy… seeing himself? To me, this frame out of all of them, is the one that just really doesn’t fit. Curious.
This Has Got to Be It
So that’s definitely a dial of some sort. And in Indy’s monologue, this is the image that immediately follows the phrase “things I can’t explain.” So yeah, this looks like it’s the Dial of Destiny. What the heck does it do? Whose hands are those? We do not know.
More Flashlights
Here’s Helena exploring underground. And since she’s got a flashlight, we believe it’s an extension of the scene from earlier in the trailer. This shot is also followed by one of Helena and Indy falling through some water into the ground which, we’re guessing, is how they get into this situation in the first place.
CGI Indy on a Horse
First — apologies for the bad image. This is a very fast action shot and this frame, as it’s fading out, is the clearest I could get of Indy himself. Either way, this is about 55 seconds into the trailer and it’s a clearly full CGI version of Harrison Ford in a ticker tape parade. The ticker tape parade, we believe, is for the Moon landing in 1969. And while the rest of the trailer has lots of other shots from this apparently huge action set piece, CGI Indy in this shot is the worst part of the trailer. He just looks bad.
This shot is followed by one of Boyd Holbrook’s character Klaber, who reportedly works for Voller, in a car doing a spin in the middle of the parade, and then Indy being chased by Klaber through the parade. The scene looks super fun. But CGI Indy? Oof.
Iconic
Indy picking up his hat and whip? Chills.
This Boulder
After a glimpse of a motorcycle flying off a hill (more on that in a second), we get this quick shot of Indy and Helena moving a boulder. Again, it’s probably not the boulder from Raiders, but you obviously are supposed to at least think about that.
Oh Shoot
Some more action shots follow, including a big explosion inside a building (we’re guessing from earlier in the trailer) and a Nazi getting smashed in the face, before we see Indy back in that ticker tape parade (without the horse), and Klaber shooting in the air. It frightens Indy and everyone around him.
The signs show that while this is a celebration, it’s also an anti-war protest at the same time. And we think this is probably Klaber at the beginning of the scene, with the horse coming after.
Is This Indy?
Toby Jones’ character screams for “Indy” to duck during the train sequence before this very curious shot. It’s a character leaning out of a motorcycle during a fight/chase and we think it’s young Indy. So that could mean undercover Indy somehow escapes, gets on this motorcycle, steals it, and then goes after the plane from earlier in the trailer. That might be accurate, right?
Punch It, Chewie
Speaking of planes, come on now. This looks like the Millennium Falcon. What are you doing, Mr. Mangold? Of course, it’s just a similar POV as some characters escapes from somewhere but still. Very cheeky.
Drowning
Indy whips away a Nazi’s gun from the train sequence earlier in the trailer, followed by this odd sequence. And, again, apologies for the not-great screenshot, it moves very fast. But someone who is not Indy clearly looks to be stuck or left underwater as someone or something else escapes to the surface. Do Indy and Helena have to kill someone to get whatever they need underwater? If it is them, of course.
More Street Action
Another mini-montage of shots that all seem to be from the buggy street chase at the beginning of the trailer. Except this time we clearly see Helena and Indy (who is jumping between vehicles) as well as Klaber.
Oh and you know what, there’s so much packed into about six seconds (including another shot from the unrelated train sequence) we’re going to double up again. This shot rules.
Subway Horse Chase
That rearview mirror shot might rule, but not as much as Indy jumping his horse into the subway station and then playing chicken with a subway train. Most likely, this is the end of the ticker tape sequence.
The Godfather
After the title card, a criminal-looking man asks “Who is this man?” To which Indy replies with the accurate statement that he’s Helena’s godfather. She jokes he’s probably related. And as Indy fends off a room full of bad guys with his whip…
Uh oh.
…Indy realises he brought a whip to a gunfight. The whole room unloads on him as he ducks for cover.
End of trailer.
So what did we learn? Frankly, not much. But this movie looks massively exciting whatever the heck it ends up being about.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny opens June 30, 2023. We’d imagine a second trailer with a bit more story will be out in early 2023.