The next time Indiana Jones appears in film could mark a major change for the franchise. In an interview with The Sun, filmmaker Steven Spielberg told the publication that it may be time for the roguish, Nazi-punching archaeology professor to take “a different form.” Graciously, Spielberg means a woman, not a snakeperson. According to Spielberg, however, this would mean changing more than the gender of the character. “We’d have to change the name from Jones to Joan. And there would be nothing wrong with that.”
Spielberg’s assertion that there’s nothing wrong with this name change is not 100 percent correct, because this is not actually how last names work. Does Indiana Jones become Indiana Joan, wherein the reboot is set in a dystopian world (or Russia) where last name denotes gender? Is it “Indiana, Joan,” sort of like when James Bond says “Bond, James Bond?” Is her name actually now Joan Jones, an homage to her own childhood dog, also named Joan?
Aside from giving Dr. Indiana Joan Jones, The Woman, a new name to match her gender, Spielberg didn’t share any other details about what a potential new addition to his international archaeological theft franchise would entail for the female, lady tomb raider. At the very least, Harrison Ford, age 75, will not be expected to return as the whip-wielding adventurer. “This will be Harrison Ford’s last Indiana Jones movie, I am pretty sure, but it will certainly continue after that,” Spielberg says.
Look, Indiana Jones would be a perfectly fine name for a woman. Spielberg could take a page out of Marvel’s book, like when it crowned a woman as the new Thor and called her “Thor,” because she was still Thor — but it’s the thought that counts, right? Let’s make sure Spielberg gets his brownie points for dangling a hypothetical lady reboot in front of us. Indiana Joan Jones: Finally, a hero for women!