Indiana Jones Star Endorses Paddington Actor Taking Over This Raiders of the Lost Ark Role

The finale of Raiders of the Lost Ark features Indiana Jones' biggest threats being eradicated by the powers emanating from the Ark of the Covenant, preventing the iconic villains from returning in any follow-up films. However, with Disney owning Lucasfilm and the studio already proving it can expand on well-known characters, it's hard to rule out a project emerging featuring younger versions of those threats. Paul Freeman, who played Belloq in Raiders, recently confirmed how he doesn't regret his character dying and not getting to return for a sequel, and that, as a fan of actor Ben Whishaw, who voices the titular bear in the Paddington films, he'd support Whishaw taking over as a younger version of Belloq for a project. The four-film Indiana Jones 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray set hits shelves on June 8th.

"It would be very different if we had come back, especially if there had been a comeback in another Indiana Jones movie," Freeman shared with ComicBook.com over his character possibly surviving that original adventure. "Perhaps a whole series of movies about Belloq, now that would have been fun. It's never crossed my mind to consider what would have happened if [he had survived]. Pointless rumination, really."

When pressed about an actor who could take over for Belloq, Freeman pointed out, "I'd have to say I'm very impressed by Ben Whishaw. So, if he wanted to play a young Belloq, I'd be very happy for him to do that."

40 years later, Harrison Ford is gearing up to reprise his role in the fifth Indiana Jones film, with the character also earning his own spin-off TV series in the '90s. Nobody could have predicted that a film focusing on an archaeologist, set in the '30s and honoring the spirit of serials from the '50s, would have become such a beloved property, with Freeman noting that he was sold on the endeavor just from the script alone.

"At that time, I was a bit naive about going into this film with George [Lucas] and Steven [Spielberg] and not realizing it was going to be a big deal," the actor admitted. "I thought it was a nice enough film, it was gonna be good, the main thing for me was how good the script was and I think that is something that probably stemmed from those years in the theater, being able to judge scripts."

Grab your copy of the Indiana Jones four-movie collection on June 8th.

Would you like to see Whishaw take over as Belloq? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!