Indiana Jones Characters Confirmed

From cinemablend, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has been surrounded by a lot of speculation, but very little fact so far. It’s been fun to ask “what if” and pretend we all know what’s going on, but the truth is most of the information that’s come forward so far has left a lot of details out. Producer Frank Marshall is finally changing that, as he confirms several of the previously unconfirmed roles for the movie to MTV.com and kind of quells one major rumor.

First up, who’s who. Cate Blanchett is not a new romantic interest for Dr. Jones. As expected when Karen Allen reprising her Raiders of the Lost Ark character was announced, Blanchett plays a villainous role, and, according to Marshall, she plays it marvelously.

Jim Broadbent is confirmed as a Yale colleague of Indiana’s, a role intended to “sort of replace Marcus Brody,” Indy’s former curator friend played by Denholm Elliott who passed away in 1992.

Finally, the big question mark: Ray Winstone. Marshall describes Winstone’s character as a cross between Belloq, the rival archeologist who crossed paths with Indy several times in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Sallah, a character who came to Indy’s aid in Raiders and Last Crusade (played by John Rhys-Davies). Winstone’s character is both friend and competitor to the heroic archeologist.

Interestingly, there’s still no confirmation for the role played by John Hurt, which has been rumored to be anyone from Albert Einstein to Abner Ravenwood. His name is noticeably absent from the cast list Marshall discussed.

The one very good piece of information to come from the producer is that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is not expected to kick start a new trilogy or start a new franchise surrounding Shia LaBeouf’s character. Marshall “vehemently denied” the rumors that this was anything more than another chapter in Indy’s movies, although the provided quote isn’t as adamant: "I don't think so. We're all getting too old. We have to hand the [adventure] torch to somebody else. I don't know who that's going to be." I’m hoping he means passing the torch to another franchise, not another director to continue Indy’s saga.