Sallah’s Indiana Jones Fate Gets Thoughtful Explanation From Franchise Star After Dial Of Destiny

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Star John Rhys-Davies has shared his thoughts on his character’s fate following his latest adventure. First appearing opposite Harrison Ford’s swaggering archaeologist in 1982. The Raiders of the Lost ArkRhys-Davies would later reprise his role as Egyptian excavator Sallah in 1989. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He also made a brief appearance in the 2023 film. Dial of Destiny, but unfortunately his character was denied the opportunity to join Indy in his quest for the second half of the Antikythera Mechanism.

During a recent appearance at MegaCon 2024 hosted by ColliderRhys-Davies has opened up about where he thinks Sallah has ended up after his last film appearance. Comparing his character to that of the real Syrian archaeologist Khaled al-Asaad, who gave his life to protect the antiquities of the ancient city of Palmyra, Rhys-Davies likes to believe “This is the kind of man Sallah could have become.” Check out his comments below:

I’ll tell you how I think Sallah ends. I think he ends up like this wonderful guy Waleed [Khaled] al-As’ad, who is the guardian of the Palmyra museum. And when ISIS came, or I think it was ISIS, he refused, he had hidden all the treasures and he refused to give them away. And they said, “If you don’t do it, we’ll kill you,” and he refused. I think he was 82 years old. He was forced to kneel and they beheaded him. He is a man who protects his culture. He is a man who protects history. And I think that’s the kind of man Sallah could have become.

Sallah deserved a better ending than the one he got

Although he only appears in two of the four Indiana Jones upcoming movies before The dial of destiny, expectations were high when it was first announced that Rhys-Davies would reprise his role for the franchise’s fifth and final outing. Serve as a key character in what are arguably the two best Indiana Jones movies throughout the franchise, many fans hoped that Dial of Destiny would offer Ford and Rhys-Davies a fitting farewell, worthy of their characters’ enduring legacies.

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Yet even though many audiences and critics would consider Dial of Destiny an improvement compared to 2008 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, others would deplore the decision to sideline Sallah in favor of a greater narrative emphasis on Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Helena Shaw. Portrayed as a New York taxi driver who immigrated to America after World War II, Rhys-Davies’ presence in the film ended up being just a cameo and denied him the last great adventure he so craved.

Even before Indiana Jones and the Dial of DestinyIt is release, Rhys-Davies admitted to the British newspaper The mirror that he felt his character was underused in the film. It was a criticism that many viewers would also echo when seeing the finished product for themselves. Yet while Sallah’s final on-screen appearance may have been a disappointment for fans of the character, at least Rhys-Davies’ speculation about his fate provides him with a far more fitting and ultimately heroic ending.

Source: Collider

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Doom is the fifth installment in the Indiana Jones franchise, directed by James Mangold and starring Harrison Ford in his final portrayal of the title character. The film will see Jones in 1969 on an adventure with his goddaughter, Helena Shaw, as they find themselves in the middle of a difficult space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, with the former appealing for help from former Nazis with ulterior motives.

Release date

June 30, 2023

Duration

2 hours and 2 minutes

Writers

Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp, James Mangold

Budget

295 million