Indiana Jones 5: 10 Ancient Treasures That Should Be The Next Movie’s MacGuffin

It’s been quite a while since the divisive Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was screened and fans have been waiting for a fifth installment ever since. While Disney has reaffirmed that Indiana Jones 5 is still happening, albeit with Logan‘s James Mangold taking over from Steven Spielberg in the director’s chair, the movie was supposed to start filming in the summer of 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic.

All of this means that fans still don’t know what to expect from Indy 5 and the rampant speculation will continue, especially in regards to the artifact that will be at the center of the plot. Every Indiana Jones movie needs a treasure pulled from real-world mythology for Indy and his adversaries to chase after, of course.

10 Atlantis

Until Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the closest thing fans had to a fourth Indiana Jones movie was the videogame Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. As a MacGuffin, Atlantis has it all. It’s well-known. It has many legends pointing to its location, and it is supposed to have advanced technology, which anyone would want to find.

Fate of Atlantis also introduced the fantastic psychic Sophia Hapgood, who would work well in a movie. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas previously said they would never make an Indiana Jones movie using an idea that had been done, but now they’re not in charge, it seems likely Disney would want to send Indy after a really popular location, and Atlantis comes out on top.

9 The Tower Of Babel

Every odd-numbered Indiana Jones movie has been Biblical in nature. So it might be time for Indy to hunt for one of the oldest stories in the Bible: the Tower of Babel, which is the ziggurat built by the ancient Babylonians in their impossible attempt to reach God, who cursed them for their hubris.

The Tower, also known as Etemenanki, seems to have been real and was built for the Babylonian creator god Marduk. It was the basis for the Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine videogame, which suggested that the Tower’s creators actually did find their god Marduk, and that was what destroyed them.

8 Iram Of The Pillars

Also known as the Atlantis of the Sands, the filmmakers could also base the fifth installment around the Iram of the Pillars. This is a story that derives from the Quran, which speaks about how Iram was a lost city that was destroyed in a sandstorm.

In 2011, Iram was the central MacGuffin of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, which is a series unashamedly based on the Indiana Jones movies, so it would probably work well in a movie too. It also appeared in One Thousand and One Nights/Arabian Nights and HP Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu. 

7 The Spear Of Destiny

A counterpart to the Holy Grail, the Spear of Longinus was supposedly used to pierce Christ’s side during the crucifixion, and since then, anyone who holds the spear becomes successful in anything they do. The weird twist with the Spear of Destiny is that it inspired the whole idea of Nazis going after religious artifacts in popular culture, and Hitler himself was said to have possessed it.

Multiple museums claim to have the Spear right now, including one in Vienna, but it is also said that the true Spear was lost during World War Two. While he’s already encountered it in a comic, it would be perfect for Indiana Jones to pick up this chase after the war.

6 Bermuda Triangle/Fountain Of Youth

The Fountain of Youth has long been theorized as an ideal artifact for Indy to go after in a movie and would be thematically appropriate as Harrison Ford is rapidly advancing in age. Tales of the legendary fountain have been around for thousands of years, beginning with the historian Herodotus in around 450 B.C.

While it is true that Disney’s own Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides covered the Fountain pretty well, a more modern interpretation could combine the Fountain with the Bermuda Triangle legend, which reached its height of interest in the 1950s.

5 Noah’s Ark

Legends of a catastrophic ancient flood have been passed down through many civilizations, but the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark is by far the most famous, with the Ark supposedly located on Mount Ararat.

While searches for the Ark have long since been considered pseudoarchaeology, the quest continues, and even Indiana Jones has taken part in Rob McGregor’s novel Indiana Jones and the Genesis Deluge. In the book, Indy encounters resistance from groups who believe that the Ark should only appear on Judgment Day, which would make a search for a crashed boat more exciting.

4 Pandora’s Box

The mythological container of all the evils in the world, unleashed upon mankind due to Pandora’s deadly curiosity, would make an excellent treasure for Indiana Jones to search for. The Box has been interpreted as an ancient weapon or holder of some deadly plague, something the more nefarious people in the world would love to get hold of.

Homer’s Iliad speaks of the location of Pandora’s Box too, so there is a real-world trail for Indy to follow. However, the biggest point in this artifact’s favor is that no famous treasure hunters have pursued it in movies or videogames so it’s free to be adapted without fear of comparison to something else.

3 The Staff Of Kings

The Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings videogame got a bad deal. It was supposed to be an exciting adventure from the team behind Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, but it got canceled, and only the second-rate Wii/PS2 versions got released. This is a shame because the Staff of Moses is a perfect artifact for an Indiana Jones hunt.

The Bible speaks of it causing the Ten Plagues of Egypt, parting the Red Sea, and can be described as “the staff of God.” It has a close connection to the Ark of the Covenant, and just to make it thematically perfect for Indiana Jones, it can turn into a giant snake. It was wasted on a bad videogame so would be excellent for Indiana Jones 5.

2 City Of The Monkey King

The Lost City of The Monkey King, Sun Wu-Kung, would be a good treasure for a fifth Indiana Jones movie as the Asian legend is something that has only really been done in the Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb videogame.

More importantly, the City of Sun Wu-Kung was the basis for the unproduced screenplay by Harry Potter director Chris Columbus, which had a Nazi with a mechanical arm and Indy riding a rhino. The City itself is similar to the Fountain of Youth or the Holy Grail, with peaches that can grant immortality, so might finally work as a movie now.

1 The Ark Of The Covenant

There have been four Indiana Jones movies, and the Ark of the Covenant has been present or referenced in three of them. Indiana Jones 5 will, most likely, be Harrison Ford’s last stint in the fedora, so until Disney reboots the series (or does prequels), it would be interesting if the movie goes full circle and have Indy hunting once again for the Ark of the Covenant.

As seen in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the Ark is located in a warehouse off Area 51 but was exposed during Indy’s escape from the Soviets. It would mean cutting out hunting in ancient temples as the Ark is already out there, but it would mean going straight to the breathless action chases, which wouldn’t be a bad thing.