It’s been a long time between cracks of the whip, but we’re finally getting a new Indiana Jones movie, with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny swinging into cinemas this June. Good stuff, but plot details have been kept under tighter wraps than the Ark of the Covenant at the end of Raiders. So what’s it all about? Thankfully, following the film’s recent world premiere at Cannes, some details (and mild spoilers) have emerged.
Directed by Logan’s James Mangold, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny kicks off in World War II, with our digitally de-aged hero (Harrison Ford) tracking down the fabled Spear of Longinus (and not for the first time, we might add) before pivoting to chasing another artefact, the Antikythera, an ancient gold gizmo built by Archimedes himself. In this endeavour he’s aided by his Marcus Brody-adjacent mate, Basil Shaw (Toby Jones), and hindered by evil Nazi Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen).
From there we jump to 1969 New York City, at the height of the Space Race, where our heroic professor is on the verge of retirement (and divorce! Bye, Marion) when he’s pulled into one last adventure by his roguish goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). She’s the daughter of Basil, this time after the Grafikos, another dusty whatsit that, when combined with the Antikythera, forms the titular Dial of Destiny. Said Dial may be a time machine which, as fans of the alternative history genre know, could allow the Nazis to win the war. Unfortunately, Mikkelsen’s Voller is not only still in the picture, he’s now a top NASA scientist, which means he can bring a lot to bear on our bare-knuckled hero, including vicious chief henchman Klaber (Boyd Holbrook).
So there you have it! Ancient artefacts, evil Nazis, a world-threatening plot, and one increasingly battered archaeologist and his ragtag allies standing between us and a Thousand Year Reich. Yep, sounds like an Indiana Jones movie to us.
