Indiana Jones has a vast mythology of characters that have been mined for all their worth, but one noticeable exception still raises many questions years later. The Indiana Jones films are a beloved action franchise seeded with Stephen Spielbeg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, a brilliant adventure film that sets up a tried formula of the rougish archaeologist Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford, as he plunders various ancient artifacts to keep them out of the hands of villainous nations. However, one plot element the first film teases has never been elaborated on.

In the famous opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy comes across the half-rotten corpse of a man who fell prey to the insidious spike-traps of the Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors, apparently another treasure hunter seeking to claim the famous Chachapoyan fertility idol. Indiana makes a brief comment that he actually knows who this is, calling him Forrestal, a fellow archaeologist and rival adventurer who sought the idol before Indiana did. Sadly, Forrestal never got his chance to get his hands on the gold statuette, falling to the temple’s defenses.

Indiana Jones Has Never Paid Off The First Movie Teasing Forrestal As A Rival

Though An Obscure Spin-Off Game Has

The Indiana Jones franchise has no shortage of sequels. From the The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles TV series depicting Indiana’s childhood to the prequel segments of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny that feature a digitally de-aged Harrison Ford, the series has had no shortage of opportunities to elaborate on Indiana’s relationship with Forrestal. Yet strangely, this is one area of the story any of the many spin-offs or sequels since Raiders of the Lost Ark have refused to elaborate on.

All of what fans know about Forrestal outside of Indiana’s brief comments in Raiders of the Lost Ark comes from quasi-canon sources, like novelizations or comic series. The only time Forrestal is even shown outside of being a corpse is in the obscure Facebook social network video game, Indiana Jones Adventure World, which includes a lengthy section featuring him caught in yet another (Although non-lethal this time) trap. It seems so odd that a character supposedly quite familiar with Indiana has yet to be given much mention in the core series.

According to supplemental media of dubious canon, Forrestal is a rival archaeologist and history professor at Princeton University. Indiana calls him “very good” posthumously, apparently meant to sell the danger of the Chachopoyan Temple’s traps. Apparently, Forrestal’s downfall could be attributed to his clumsiness, also occasionally losing the race to new archaeological sites to Indiana thanks to his comparatively poorer research. When he does manage to beat Indiana to a H๏τ new site, it spells his doom.

Why An Indiana Jones Prequel About His Forrestal Rivalry Would Work

Forrestal Presents A Unique Opportunity

It seems as though Forrestal still presents an interesting opportunity for a future Indiana Jones prequel to explore. As a rival archaeologist to Indiana, Forrestal could be an interesting sort of Indiana Jones villain that hasn’t quite been done before — Not exactly friendly, but more of a professional enemy than a bitter idealistic one. A series that takes place over the course of a thrilling race between Indiana and Forrestal both trying to beat each other to major new discoveries could be a fascinating new take on a typical Indiana Jones story.

Thanks to Indiana Jones Adventure World, there’s even already some precedence within the franchise. In the game, Forrestal leverages his network of spies across South America to monitor and swoop in on Aztec and Mayan dig sites, though Indiana later manages to uncover pre-Viking relics at a dig site in Ireland that Forrestal misses. Even if this exact story isn’t adhered to, there’s endless possibilities for an Indiana Jones prequel that utilizes this supposed rivalry only offhandedly mentioned in Raiders of the Lost Ark.