Karen Allen says an earlier version of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was more of an Indy and Marion story

Raiders of the Lost Ark — (Image credit: Lucasfilm)

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny featured a surprise cameo from Karen Allen's Marion Ravenwood – and Allen has revealed that a previous version of the film, set to be directed by Steven Spielberg, featured her character a lot more.

"I think because the last time you see Indy and Marion, they've gotten married – I don't know that I thought we'd pick up from where we left off, but I did always imagine that it would be a story with Indy and Marion going forward," Allen told Variety. "When Steven was going to direct the film, I think the scripts were more focused on an Indy/Marion story. But when Steven stepped aside and James [Mangold] came in, he started fresh with new writers and they just went in the direction they went in."

But, Allen never actually saw the script for Spielberg's take on the fivequel. "They were going to tell a different story. That's not to say that I had ever read a script that Steven was working on, because I hadn't," she said. "But I just knew from conversations that we'd had that the ongoing story had involved Marion in a much bigger way than the story that they ended up with."

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Dial of Destiny reveals that Indy and Marion's son Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) was killed in Vietnam, and in the aftermath the couple are mid-divorce. But, at the end of the film, they reconcile.

Allen admitted to being "disappointed" when she learned of the shift in Indy and Marion's relationship, but she was still thrilled to reprise her role. "I was deeply happy that Marion came back at least the end of their story," she added. "If this is indeed truly the last film of this particular group of films – if this is the last story with Harrison [Ford] as Indy and me as Marion – I was profoundly happy that it didn’t end without them coming back together. That meant a lot to me, to feel like they were going to ride off in the sunset together."

Ford has been very clear that he won't be returning as Indy again, so it seems likely that this is the last time we'll see him and Allen's Marion on the big screen together – and we're just glad they got their happy ending.

Dial of Destiny is in cinemas now. For much more on the movie, check out our pieces on:

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film section. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.