Indiana Jones 5 in 2018?

When Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hit in 2008, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas received a passionate outcry from longtime fans, claiming that they had resurrected a classic character only to crucify him. After the aliens, refrigerator incident, and Shia Labeouf, one looming question remained on everyone’s minds: Should this beloved adventure franchise try to redeem itself with a fifth entry or should the plug be pulled while it’s on life support?

After several years of Indy’s fate being up in the air, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy confirmed in May 2015 that a fifth movie is in development. Even more interesting, Chris Pratt was rumored to potentially usurp Indy’s fedora and whip. While Pratt’s involvement is still only a rumor, Indiana Jones 5 is reportedly eying a late 2018 release date according to Ain’t It Cool News. This would put a ten year gap between Indy’s previous journey and his shot at a comeback.

Everything about this project is still pretty vague. Nobody seems to know whether it would even be a sequel, a prequel, or a reboot. The real question, however, is whether Chris Pratt could really fill Harrison Ford’s shoes? While the idea of making an Indiana Jones movie without Ford sounds blasphemous, there was also a time when it seemed like nobody could replace Sean Connery as James Bond. While Connery is still arguably the best Bond, there have been several memorable portrayals of the character over the years, especially from Daniel Craig.

Pratt has proven himself to be something of a modern Harrison Ford in recent years, demonstrating his own unique brand of humor, charm, and badass in mega blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World. Although he’ll never be able to top Ford, he’s one of the only mainstream modern actors who could do justice to the iconic character while also adding something new for the next generation of audiences. Plus, do we really want to see Indy get any older?

Will Indiana Jones 5 come out in 2018? Will Pratt star as the title character? Will Ford be part of the project at all? Only time will tell. Until then, at least we can take comfort in the fact that Shia Labeouf isn’t involved… yet…