Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Stars Explain Their Villian Roles (Exclusive)

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the fifth movie in the beloved franchise, and the first to be released in 15 years. The film is finally hitting theaters later this month, and it’s expected to be the last time Harrison Ford dons the hat and whip. Of course, you can’t have a good Indy flick without a good villain, and the most menacing tend to be one of the main character’s least-favorite people: nazis. In the new movie, that role belongs to Star Wars and Marvel alum Mads Mikkelsen, who plays Jürgen Voller. In the film, he is joined by his unbalanced henchman Klaber (Boyd Holbrook) and Mason (Shaunette Renée Wilson), a CGI agent who has gotten mixed up with the wrong people. This week, ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with the trio, who spoke about their characters.

“My first Nazi,” Mikkelsen joked when asked about playing the villain in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. “It was due. No, I mean, it’s wrapping up this franchise, it’s wrapping up the beautiful journey of Harrison and Indiana Jones, and the script was just so beautiful and so touching, so that helped a lot. But he could have said, ‘Indiana Jones, Nazi,’ and I would’ve said, ‘Yes.’”

“I think it was wonderful having Jim [Mangold] as someone to communicate with and talk a little bit about it,” Wilson explained. “This isn’t a situation that she ever thought she would be in or necessarily wants to be in, kind of like following orders. And then she’s kind of thrust into more of a leadership role and has to wrangle these guys. And it seems that things are just getting way out of hand and way out of what she would ever perceive to have happen. And so trying to just take it moment by moment, this is the agenda right now. They’re messing it up, but I’m trying to focus in on this one thing. And I think the scale just keeps growing bigger and bigger and bigger. And to show that struggle and to show that things are not going as to plan was just really fun” 

During the chat, we also asked Holbrook if working with Mangold in Indiana Jones was different from their time making Logan together. 

“Not a lot. I mean, the budgets and the scale are pretty similar, but Jim has an incredible way of making everything extremely intimate,” Holbrook told us about the differences between Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Logan. “And that’s why I think his movies are so good is because they’re rooted in a humanity of the characters and everyone’s got a relationship, my character between Shaunette, and of course with Mads’ character. Yeah, it’s not that different, but he has a great way of just making and tracking those relationships throughout and yeah, he’s the master at that.”

What Is Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny About?

The iconic Harrison Ford returns for one last adventure when Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premieres in theaters on June 30th. Lucasfilm’s latest film in the long-running franchise sees Dr. Jones team up with his goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in a race against nefarious forces to secure a powerful artifact. The duo will go up against the mysterious former Nazi-turned-NASA scientist Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), and the film also features stars Boyd Holbrook, Antonio Banderas, Toby Jones, and John Rhys Davies. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is directed by James Mangold and is set to be Ford’s final appearance as the iconic archeologist.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hits theaters on June 30th.