‘Indiana Jones 5’: John Rhys-Davies Shares Idea For Sallah’s Return

Indiana Jones has had several allies join him on his adventures over the years and one of the most popular has been John Rhys-Davies’ Sallah. An Egyptian excavator and close friend who assisted Indy in Raiders of the Ark, Rhys-Davies last portrayed the fan-favorite character in The Last Crusade. While there has been no word on which characters may return for the recently announced fifth film, Rhys-Davies has expressed his interest in reprising the role of Sallah and shared his idea for how the character could return during an interview with Yahoo Movies.

Rhys-Davies envisioned a heroic – but potentially tragic – role for Sallah similar to Syrian archeologist Khaled al-Asaad, who was publicly executed after refusing to lead ISIS to hidden artifacts:

“What would have happened to Sallah? I like to think that he would have been somebody like Khaled al-Asaad – that marvellous 80-year-old man who was defending his museum in Palmyra and who hid its major treasures and refused to give them over to ISIS and was beheaded in the town square. I think that’s probably how I would have seen Sallah.”

While Rhys-Davies would love to return to the franchise, he stated that he understood if that was not possible:

“I’d love to have one last crack at Sallah, but I understand if time has just moved on – it would be sad.”

Rhys-Davies also commented on Sallah’s important place in pop culture:

“Sallah is the last Arab in popular, contemporary culture, that we regard as a hero. The world has changed, and that’s a tragedy for the West and for the Arab world.”

Would you like to see Sallah return for the fifth Indiana Jones film? Personally, he was one of the best characters in the franchise and I would love to see him embark on one more adventure with the famous archeologist. Share your thoughts below!

Indiana Jones 5 will be written by David Koepp and directed Steven Spielberg with Harrison Ford reprising his role as the titular hero.

Indiana Jones 5 is scheduled to be released in theaters on July 10, 2020.

Source: Yahoo! Movies