Vague hyperbolic teases about upcoming blockbusters probably belong in a museum. But Boyd Holbrook’s excitement for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, in which he stars as the righthand man to Mads Mikkelsen’s villainous ex-Nazi Jürgen Voller, cannot be contained.
“I think it's gonna blow people's minds,” Holbrook tells Inverse in an interview following the release of the official trailer for the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise. (Stay tuned for more from Holbrook in an interview reflecting on his role in Netflix’s The Sandman, later this week.)
The Dial of Destiny is the first movie in the action-adventure franchise to not be directed by Steven Spielberg, and the first to not be written by George Lucas. Instead, Logan director James Mangold steps into the director’s chair — which is where Holbrook also comes in. (The script comes from Mangold, Jez Butterworth, and John-Henry Butterworth.)
In 2017, Holbrook swaggered into the X-Men universe as Pierce, the cold, calculating baddie of Logan, whose relentless pursuit of Hugh Jackman’s wearier Wolverine resulted in one of the best comic book movies of all time. Holbrook held his own against Jackman and Patrick Stewart. And in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, he gets to hold his own against Harrison Ford, in what will likely be the swan song for Ford’s whip-slinging archaeologist.
“It's like, ‘Wow, I'm a part of a movie like that,’” Boyd muses. “It's incredible. And Harrison's a wild man, do not count against him. This could be the best one of them all. They stay true to the subject and they stay true to the characters.”
Boyd’s promise that The Dial of Destiny stays “true to the subject” will probably be of some relief to fans after the disappointing fourth film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The highly divisive 2008 film saw the franchise take a wild swing towards B-movie sci-fi, with a plot involving aliens and telepathic crystal skulls. Though it’s arguably in keeping with the pulp adventure that Indiana Jones has always paid homage to, it was too big of a swing for most audiences. The Dial of Destiny, with its pivot back to Nazi baddies and real-world historical milestones like the 1960s Space Race, looks to be a return to form — even with the rumors of a time travel plot twist.
“James Mangold has come through and made an incredible film.”
The trailer certainly looks to capture all the fist-pumping glory and awe of an Indiana Jones movie. And Holbrook, who says he’s seen 30 more minutes of the movie than the rest of us, attests that The Dial of Destiny lives up to that promise.
“James Mangold has come through and made an incredible film,” Holbrook says. “I think it's gonna blow people's minds. I was just tickled, absolutely tickled to death to be on stage, and have fun with those guys for nine months. I'll never get that time back. We made an Indiana Jones movie and fans are gonna love it. It's gonna be just like the old ones.”
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny arrives in theaters on June 30, 2023.
