When Disney bought Lucasfilm and acquired the rights to make their own Star Wars movies, they also acquired the rights to make their own Indiana Jones films. While a fifth Indy movie is in development with Steven Spielberg directing and Harrison Ford in the role, there isn’t much longevity in that. Ford is 76 years old, so we can’t expect many more Indy movies from him. There have been rumors that the role will be recast, but Ford recently shot these rumors down: “Nobody is going to be Indiana Jones, don’t you get it? I’m Indiana Jones. When I’m gone, he’s gone. It’s easy.” But is it that easy?
10. Chris Evans
While Chris Evans is unlikely to want to trade in one decade-long commitment to a Hollywood blockbuster franchise for another, he would be a great choice to play Dr. Jones. His performance as Steve Rogers has proven that he’s a guy we can root for and he has an inherent heroism the comes through on his perfectly chiseled face. In fact, we’ve even seen him fighting the fun, satirical, Hollywood version of Nazis, just like Indy! The only difference is that Rogers is a naive optimist and Indy is a bitter pessimist, but this would give Evans an interesting change of pace as an actor. The two roles could exist as two sides of the same coin on the Evans oeuvre.
9. Scott Eastwood
Harrison Ford came from the era of macho ‘70s movie stars like Burt Reynolds, Paul Newman, and Clint Eastwood. If Indy is going to be recast, then we need someone who can embody that macho ‘70s movie star presence. The closest thing we have to that today is Eastwood’s own son, Scott Eastwood. The younger Eastwood has been in franchise movies, like Suicide Squad, big action thrillers, like The Fate of the Furious, and more sensitive dramatic material, like The Longest Ride. He’s yet to become a huge star he deserves to be, but the role of Indiana Jones could clinch that for him.
8. Michael B. Jordan
The world seems to be ready for a black Bond, so it’s probably ready for a black Indiana Jones, too. Frankly, it’s not something that the world should have to get ready for, but apparently it is. Thanks to Creed and Black Panther, Michael B. Jordan is the bona fide movie star that he deserves to be, and with the stoic heroism and cynical edge that he brings to his performances, he’d be the perfect guy to tackle the role of Indiana Jones for a modern audience. Given the opportunity, Jordan could totally reinvent the character in new and exciting ways.
7. Zachary Levi
If Zachary Levi’s lead performance in the DCEU’s latest entry, Shazam!, taught us anything, it’s that he’s a fun, lovable, capable lead. He has the comedic chops to keep the plot progression fun and lovely, and he has the dramatic chops to hammer it home.
This would make him an ideal candidate to take the iconic fedora from Harrison Ford. Levi always wanted to make a Warriors Three trilogy for the MCU, but he’s given up on that after being given a bit part in Thor: Ragnarok. If he still wants to do an awesome trilogy of adventure movies, he could play Indiana Jones!
6. Alicia Vikander
Steven Spielberg recently said that he would be open to a female Indiana Jones (even if he worded it a little clunkily, suggesting for whatever reason that the character would have to be renamed “Indiana Joan”), so it could happen – and should happen. Alicia Vikander proved she could play an Indiana Jones type role, combining brains and brawn as a globe-hopping adventurer in search of an ancient relic, in last year’s Tomb Raider reboot. Unfortunately, that was a poorly scripted and poorly made movie, so even if they go ahead with a sequel, Vikander’s performance doesn’t have a bright future. She could make the leap to the role of Indiana Jones instead.
5. Armie Hammer
For many reasons, Disney’s big-budget Lone Ranger movie sucked. However, Armie Hammer’s lead performance was one of the few things that worked. He has the look and the charisma of an all-American hero. In that movie, he gallantly strides through the Old West in search of justice, and that same look and charisma could be applied to a certain archeologist who gallantly strides through the ancient temples of exotic early-to-mid 20th century settings in search of fortune and glory. Hammer has starred in a few failed attempts at franchises, including The Lone Ranger and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., so it’s about time he was in a successful one.
4. Michael Fassbender
The producers might get some flak for casting a non-American actor to play all-American hero Indiana Jones if they choose Michael Fassbender, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a bad choice. The role of Indiana Jones doesn’t just require someone with the brawn and physicality for an action role. We have to also remember that Indy spends half his time teaching college students about archeology, and that has to seem believable, too, otherwise the character fails. Fassbender is both a physical actor and an intelligent actor, proven by projects ranging from Assassin’s Creed and 300 to Inglourious Basterds and Shame. He would nail the role of Indiana Jones.
3. Karl Urban
Karl Urban is a recognizable face in Hollywood, but he has yet to be given the starring role he deserves. He played supporting roles in the Star Trek and Bourne franchises, and then he starred in a near-perfect Judge Dredd movie whose failure at the box office prevented it from becoming the franchise Urban’s career needed.
With his New Zealand heritage, he’s another actor whose casting would be criticized by diehard fans who won’t accept a non-American Indy, just like James Bond fans wouldn’t accept another non-British Bond, but still, Urban would be great in the role of Indiana Jones.
2. Bradley Cooper
In the two-decade gap between the third and fourth Indiana Jones movies, Harrison Ford made the jump from young Indy to elderly Indy. We never got to explore the middle ground with an older, more grizzled Indy who is reluctantly called into action like John Rambo. This is the chapter of Indy’s life that Bradley Cooper could fill in with a cool trilogy of adventures. Cooper has proven to be capable in action roles – both silly ones like The A-Team and serious ones like American Sniper – and last year, he took the world by storm with his directorial debut A Star is Born.
1. Chris Pratt
This one is a no-brainer, since he’s the actor who’s been most persistently rumored for the role since the Disney deal and he’s already been playing a giddier, less mature, less suave version of Indiana Jones in all of his movies anyway. What are Peter Quill and Owen Grady if not thinly veiled imitations of Indiana Jones? Pratt himself parodied this in The Lego Movie 2 with the character Rex Dangervest. But joking aside, there is a real reason for these rumors. Pratt embodies the charm and wit and sense of fun that Harrison Ford has always brought to the role of Indiana Jones, so he would be perfect.
