Indiana Jones 5 Adds Antonio Banderas to Cast

Antonio Banderas will be joining Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones 5. According to reports, Banderas has closed a deal to join the next Indiana Jones film - though no details of what role he would play in the film have been shared. That tracks, as pretty much everything about Indiana Jones 5's story and characters are unknown at this time. Director James Mangold (Logan, The Wolverine) is directing this installment from a script he wrote with Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. Alongside Harrison Ford and Antonio Banderas, the cast includes big names like Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, and Shaunette Renée Wilson.

This casting news for Antonio Banderas comes at a time when the Spanish actor is making something of a comeback in big-budget blockbuster fare. After playing Icons like Pablo Picasso (Genius) and putting out some Oscar-level cinema (Pedro Almodóvar's Pain and Glory) Banderas will join his former Desperado co-star Salma Hayek (as well as Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson) in the action sequel The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard. Banderas will also appear in the Uncharted video game adaptation with Spider-Man's Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, and will once again voice his popular Shrek animated character in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. No doubt his casting in the new Indiana Jones will lead to speculation that the Latin actor could be part of a storyline set in Spain or South America.

Indiana Jones 5 could use an exciting headline like Antonio Banderas joining the cast, as the production hit a major stumble, recently. Harrison Ford hurt himself while filming Indiana Jones 5, and has since been seen walking around with his arm in a sling. Disney has vowed to keep the production rolling on as Harrison Ford recuperates from his injury; the studio released this statement at the time of Ford's injury:

"In the course of rehearsing for a fight scene, Harrison Ford sustained an injury involving his shoulder. Production will continue while the appropriate course of treatment is evaluated, and the filming schedule will be reconfigured as needed in the coming weeks."

So far, we have no real insight as to what - if any - changes are being made to Indiana Jones 5's shoot; so far, there's no reason to worry about delays in production or a change in release date.

Indiana Jones 5 is set to release in theaters on July 29, 2022.

Reported by Deadline