Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy recently admitted that “it’s entirely possible” that Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character, Helena Shaw, could take over the Indiana Jones franchise.
Kennedy spoke with Variety about the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny film, where she was asked if Disney and Lucasfilm see potential for Phoebe Waller-Bridge and her character, Helena Shaw, to carry on the franchise.
Kennedy informed the outlet that “it’s entirely possible.” However, she also added, “We’re not having any of those conversations right now. We’re just focused on finishing this with Harrison.”
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Kennedy’s comments come after numerous rumors claimed that Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character would replace Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones by the end of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
Back in June 2021 YouTuber Overlord DVD shared that a number of his Hollywood spied informed him that “two endings are supposedly being considered in this script. I guess they’ve been written and they are going to shoot both of them. Both endings allegedly have old Indiana Jones dying at the end of this movie.”
“But in one of the rumored endings, young Indiana Jones dies alongside old Indiana Jones and Phoebe Waller-Bridge swoops in like a vulture, picks the hat up, and takes his place moving forward,” he adds.
In September 2021, The Daily Mail reported, “Phoebe Waller-Bridge is being tipped to replace the veteran actor as a female version of the fictional professor of archaeology in the adventure movie franchise.”
An anonymous source told The Daily Mail’s Showbusiness Editor Katie Hind about the rumor, “It would be a huge statement, and a great role for Phoebe.”
Another source stated, “The gossip on the set is that this character will slot into the leading role.”
Overlord DVD then followed up his initial rumor sharing another one in November 2022 claiming the film actually had six endings. He relayed, “We’ve been told out of the six endings they tested the best one gets a 35% approval from test audiences.”
“We’ve been told that Bridge put the hat on in every ending,” he added.
Overlord DVD then clarified, “All my spies actually said was Phoebe Waller-Bridge puts on Indy’s hat, takes Indy’s whip, and in a brave and stunning display of girl power she becomes the besest Indy evar at the end of all six version of the movie.”
The film’s director James Mangold denied the rumors in December. He wrote, “One more time. No one is ‘taking over’ or replacing Indy or donning his hat nor is he being ‘erased’ thru some contrivance— and he never was, not not in any cut or script — but trolls will troll — that’s how they get their clicks.”
He continued, “And please don’t exhaust me pointing out how once in a while a troll is ‘right’. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now & then. All one has to do is look at set photos & interviews & u get enough info to make wild guesses about a movie plot.”
“The diff between trolling a-holes & everyone else is they r trying to make $ off your feelings about other films & culture war politics. They push contoversial guesses as coming from “sources” to gin up clicks. Let it go. END,” he concluded.
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However, this denial was called into question when the film’s composer John Williams shared less than two weeks later that the film had “another ending to shoot and to record. Maybe in a couple weeks.”
Last night, John Williams told his audience that they are shooting a new ending to Indiana Jones V in a couple weeks.
Thanks to @doomcock for the find. Added captions for you.@wdwpro1 @ValliantRenegad pic.twitter.com/FZUOpjOpX7
— Jonas J. Campbell (@JonasJCampbell) December 14, 2022
Mangold attempted to refute Williams’ comments first writing, “John was mistaken. Maybe read Twitter too much.”
He then declared, “We’re not shooting new endings. Never did. The film is 99% finished & being rated by MPAA.”
Mangold concluded, “This imagined zany ending w/ Indy being erased & replaced is a fever dream of wounded folks angry about other films I did not make.”
When asked for clarification on Williams’ comments, Mangold answered, “Joking, mistaken or misinformed. Not happening.”
However, when further pressed on the issue, Mangold claimed Williams was “fully informed” just after claiming he was either “joking, mistaken, or misinformed.” He tweeted, “I agree that he’s one of the greatest composers in the history of film. And also one of the most lovely people on earth. And he’s fully informed.”
Mangold’s denials would be further called into question after Harrison Ford recently admitted to Spanish-language Espinof that the last thing he did on the film was to work on the ending.
He told the outlet, “We did a little work on the ending, which is the last thing I shot with Karen Allen, who has been in a substantial part of the whole thing, but appears in this story only briefly, at the end, but with a very strong, emotional hook. I felt nostalgia, a sense of accomplishment. I’m proud of the film, happy with the film.”
“Every good thing, you know, there comes a right time to go on to something else. I really enjoyed the process of making this film. I’m very happy with it. So I left the set that day content,” Ford concluded.
Indiana Jones: ¿Qué fue lo último que rodó Harrison Ford como Indiana Jones? pic.twitter.com/XR9qnc3grj
— Espinof (@espinof_com) June 13, 2023
One has to wonder how they changed the ending of the film and if the film was indeed originally supposed to see Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character take over for Indiana Jones. These recent comments from Kennedy do appear to lend credence to those original rumors that Waller-Bridge’s character would take over for Indiana Jones.
If Kennedy thinks it’s possible now, It’s hard to imagine how she wouldn’t have thought it was possible before especially given her push to incorporate radical feminism into Lucasfilm from how the company is staffed to the films and TV shows they produce.
She shared this vision back in 2015 during Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women Summit.
Kennedy said, “The fact that the company was bought by The Walt Disney Company has been amazing because they very much support the fact that we are trying to grow in the work force a number of women in executive positions and in all positions inside the company.”
“And with the movies that we are making and with the protagonists that we are putting in the stories. So I get a huge amount of support with that,” she continued.
She then touted, “But we have 50% of our executive team are women. And six out of eight of the people in my story group are women. And I’m sure there’s a lot of people that would be surprised that we’re making Star Wars movies and the majority of the people involved in the development of those stories are women. And I think it’s making a huge difference in the stories that we’re trying to tell.”
While they might have changed Phoebe Waller-Bridge taking over for Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones, the current rumored ending for the film sounds just as bad if not worse.
According to Reddit user LunekJones Indiana Jones, Helena Shaw, and Mad Mikkelsen’s Doctor Jürgen Voller travel back in time to the Roman siege of Syracuse where Voller and his German compatriots end up dying in a plane crash.
Indy and Shaw survive the plane crash and run into Archimedes. However, Indy no longer wants to return to the present timeline. Helena warns him that he could end up changing the course of history. Indy is unmoved by the argument. Helena then punches him in the face and somehow transports him back to the present where upon waking up he is greeted by Karen Allen’s Marion and seemingly has a happy ending.
What do you make of Kennedy’s comments and do you think they lend credence to the original rumors that they wanted to replace Indiana Jones with Helena Shaw?