What Happened To Indiana Jones' Son Mutt Williams After Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny reveals what happened to Indy's son Mutt Williams after the events of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny!

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny reveals a shocking fate for Indy’s son, Mutt Williams, after Kingdom of the Crystal Skull set him up to take over the franchise. Henry Jones III, better known by his nickname “Mutt,” is the long-lost son of Indiana Jones, played by Shia LaBeouf in 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Throughout their adventure to find the ancient home of the crystal skulls, Indy and Mutt gradually became endeared to one another and Indy came to embrace his estranged son.

The final scene of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in which Mutt picked up Indy’s fedora at the wedding chapel, seemed to suggest that he would take over the franchise when his father was ready to retire. However, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has revealed an entirely different fate for the polarizing character. He doesn’t actually appear on-screen, but he is a major presence in the movie. Furthermore, Mutt’s post-Kingdom of the Crystal Skull story has poignant ties to the historical context of the Indiana Jones franchise.

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Mutt Williams is revealed to have died off-screen during one of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’s most touching scenes. When Indy’s new travel companion Helena Shaw asks him what he would do if he could travel back in time, he tells her that he would prevent his son from enlisting in the armed forces. Indy explains that Mutt enlisted to fight in the Vietnam War out of spite and ended up being killed in action. Due to the inconsolable grief that followed, Indy’s marriage to Mutt’s mother Marion Ravenwood fell apart.

While Mutt doesn’t appear on-screen in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, he’s an undeniably huge presence in the story. When the movie begins, Indy is stuck in a rut, going through a rough divorce, yelling at his neighbors, and retiring from both academia and adventuring. That all stems from Mutt’s untimely death. Mutt’s passing also ties into the historical context of the movie. When Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny takes place in 1969, many young American men like Mutt were being shipped off to fight in a controversial war.

Mutt was never supposed to play a part in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, but LaBeouf likely wouldn’t have returned anyway. In an interview with Variety, LaBeouf said that he “[doesn’t] like” Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. After the negative response to the film and his performance as Mutt, LaBeouf decided “life’s too short for this s***.” At the time of the interview, eight years after he played Mutt, LaBeouf said, “I’m still earning my way back [from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’s critical reception].” Since Mutt Williams became the defining failure of LaBeouf’s career, the actor wasn’t exactly eager to reprise the role.

There’s also the issue of LaBeouf’s legal troubles and controversies. The actor has been sued by his ex-girlfriend Tahliah Debrett Barnett (known publicly by her stage name, FKA Twigs) for sexual battery, assault, and emotional distress (via The New York Times). Since these allegations emerged, studios have been distancing themselves from LaBeouf. Netflix removed LaBeouf from the awards campaign for their acclaimed drama Pieces of a Woman (via IndieWire). He was also replaced by Harry Styles as the star of Olivia Wilde’s dystopian thriller Don’t Worry Darling under unexplained circumstances (via Variety).

Director James Mangold has insisted that the decision not to include LaBeouf in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was “separate from all past studio political intrigue” (via MovieWeb). Mangold “didn’t think his whole thing worked that well in the previous film,” so he wasn’t interested in bringing back that dynamic in the fifth Indiana Jones movie. But since Mutt became such an important part of Indy’s life in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Mangold knew he needed to explain the character’s absence and chose to kill him off.

Although Mutt doesn’t appear in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Phoebe Waller-Bridge appears as a similar sidekick, Helena Shaw. Indy’s dynamic with Helena maintains the father figure role he developed with Mutt in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. As Indy’s goddaughter, Helena has looked up to Indy as a role model since her childhood. Indy embarks on one last adventure so he can be the hero that Helena remembers him as. The intergenerational bickering between Indy and Helena in Dial of Destiny is reminiscent of the banter he traded with Mutt in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

If the producers had wanted to bring back LaBeouf as Mutt for the sidekick role in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the script wouldn’t need to be changed much. Helena’s supporting role as the younger, less scrupulous adventurer that Indy takes under his wing could’ve easily been filled by Mutt following in his father’s globetrotting footsteps. But the movie might have suffered, because Harrison Ford’s on-screen chemistry with Waller-Bridge is arguably stronger than his chemistry with LaBeouf, and Waller-Bridge’s perfectly timed quips are part of what makes Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny so much fun.

Sources: IndieWire, Variety, MovieWeb, The New York Times