Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny star Mads Mikkelsen has weighed in about whether his villainous character continues a franchise trend. He plays Jürgen Voller, an ex-Nazi scientist who is working with NASA and whose obsession with making the world a better place leads him to seek out a powerful ancient artifact. Naturally, this means that Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) must find a way to stop him, teaming up with his goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in the film, which is due in theaters on June 30.
As part of their 2023 Summer Preview, Entertainment Weekly sat down with Mikkelsen to discuss his role in the Indiana Jones 5 cast. During their conversation, he reflected on his character’s relationship to Adolf Hitler and whether Voller continues the franchise’s trend of having Nazi villains. Mikkelsen says that Voller “disagreed with Hitler on a lot of things” and that he believes his own vision is better, which could indeed make him even more dangerous than the previous full-tilt Nazi villains. Read his full quote below:
What does a better place look like? This is where it gets tricky. So I just have to leave that out, and then I can replace the end goal with something else [in my mind]. And then it’s recognizable, for me at least.Well, if you’re a believer into a certain ideology, obviously, your end game would be that that ideology will be the winning hand, right? And that can come in many shapes and forms. I do think that he disagreed with Hitler on a lot of things. And [his ideas] might even be a better version than Hitler’s… he’s a man who is very, very passionate about his job, the science of what he’s doing, and less so with the ideology of what he’s doing. But if they can go hand in hand, that will be a good day for him.
Mads Mikkelsen’s Entire Career Has Prepared Him For Indiana Jones 5
Mikkelsen has big shoes to fill with this new Indiana Jones 5 role. The franchise’s history of colorful Nazi villains begins with Ronald Lacey’s literally face-melting performance as Major Arnold Toht in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. Although the second film, which was a prequel, didn’t feature Nazis, they returned in full force on a quest for the Holy Grail in 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which features Michael Sheard as Adolf Hitler himself.
However, Mikkelsen’s career has allowed him to cut his teeth on many major villain roles that will allow him to execute such a venomous presence perfectly. Most recently, he applied his skills to the role of Gellert Grindelwald in last year’s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. However, he has played bombastic villains in other franchise entries, spanning from Le Chiffre in Casino Royale to Kaecilius in Doctor Strange.
Mikkelsen also took on the role of one of pop culture’s most memorable villains with aplomb. In the NBC series Hannibal, he gave Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins a run for his money as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter over three memorable seasons. If he manages to bring all that accumulated gravity and menace to his role in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, he could be one of Indiana Jones’ most memorable villains yet, proper Nazi or not.
Source: EW
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This story originally appeared on Screenrant
