Does Mola Ram Wear Something on His Back

Why Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Was a Prequel

One of the hidden facts in the Indiana Jones series is that Temple of Doom was a prequel, and according to George Lucas, this wasn't an accident.

When it comes to action-adventure films, moviegoers need look no further than the Indiana Jones franchise. Since 1981, Harrison Ford has been doing the impossible as the fedora-wearing adventurer. The first film brought the fun and excitement of pulp action adventures from the early days of film mixed with swashbuckling action where, instead of evil pirates, the hero was taking on rival treasure hunters and Nazis. However, for the next film in the series, the creators wanted to take a small step back in the character's history to a time before the Ark of the Covenant.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom takes place in 1935, one year before Raiders of the Lost Ark. The change is largely unimportant to the main series but has caused some confusion to fans who don't watch the films back to back or simply didn't notice upon a few rewatches. The film takes Indy on an adventure to India, where he encounters the evil Mola Ram and his cult.  According to George Lucas, the decision to make the film a prequel boils down to the fact that the creators didn't want to use Nazis as the bad guys again.

At the time of the film's release, the choice to make the movie a prequel and feature a new type of villain seemed like a standard direction for the franchise to take. At the time, fans had no idea the path the franchise would go in, or the types of enemies Jones would face. But decades later, the series inadvertently made the film stand out because of the same choices that brought it to life in the first place.

For the next entry, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the franchise pushed the clock forward two years after Raiders, with Indy taking on Nazis once again. Because the previous entry was a prequel, The Last Crusade felt more like a traditional sequel to the first film and therefore justified the inclusion of Nazis again. The next entry into the series didn't came almost 20 years later, offering an equal amount of change and more of the same.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull doesn't feature Nazis. However, the 1950s setting of the film brings in a new threat with the Russian military. With four films in the series so far, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the only entry to not feature a military presence as the enemy. While this doesn't negatively affect the franchise as a whole, it does add a degree of irony to Lucas' past statement.

Thanks to the Thuggee cult and Mola Ram,Temple of Doom became an outlier of the series, making it as memorable as it is fun. For now, there is no concrete synopsis for the next film in the franchise, but recent set photos show that Nazis will once again be playing a part in the series, and whether it'll be large or small remains to be seen. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a visually vibrant film born from a desire to avoid sameness. While future entries didn't follow that idea, the film proves that not all franchises need a serialized narrative to succeed.

KEEP READING: Indiana Jones 5 Set Video Features A Nazi Train

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About The Author

Nicholas Brooks (1099 Articles Published)

CBR Features Writer Nick Brooks has been writing for over ten years about all things pop culture. He has written for other sites like Animemojo.com and Gamefragger.com. When not writing you can find him with his lovely girlfriend, cooking, reading comics, or collecting any new Star Wars Black Series, Marvel Legend, or Transformer. For more of his thoughts on pop culture check out his blog, The Next Panel with Comic Brooks.

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Does Mola Ram Wear Something on His Back

Source: https://www.cbr.com/why-indiana-jones-temple-doom-prequel/