Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director says there was an alternate ending for the final movie

The director of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny says there was an alternate ending for the final movie.

Now that the flick, which has since been confirmed to be the final movie in the iconic Indiana Jones franchise, has hit theaters, director James Mangold has opened up on some juicy new details about how the movie could have ended.

The popular film series first kicked off in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Ark and has been going strong for more than 40 years now.

The first film in the franchise saw Harrison Ford’s archaeologist-adventurer hunt for the ancient Ark of the Covenant.

Since then, fans have seen the iconic figure take on just about everything, from the Nazis and Soviet KGB agents to even aliens.

The latest adventure, The Dial of Destiny, sees the daredevil archaeologist race against time to retrieve a legendary dial that can change the course of history.

Accompanied by his goddaughter, Helena Shaw, played by Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge, he soon finds himself squaring off against Jürgen Voller - played by Mads Mikkelsen - a former Nazi who works for NASA.

Now for the spoiler alert - you've been warned.

The final act of the film unravels Voller's plot to use the dial to travel back in time to 1939 and kill Hitler in the hopes that another leader would go on to bring about Germany's victory during the war.

However, the former Nazi's ploy doesn't go to plan as he ends up accidentally travelling to the Siege of Syracuse in 212 BC.

Disney

Speaking in an interview with Inverse, director Mangold revealed that he did have an alternative ending in mind for the monumental end to the saga.

He mused over the idea that the Nazis did in fact succeed in time-traveling to Nazi Germany but ultimately decided against it over issues with 'emotional resonance'.

Mangold told the outlet: "I would never make this choice without ruminating over lots of choices."

He continued to explain the other possible ending: "The other interesting thing was that one of the things I thought about was even if we did travel in time, would Mads' theory be right, and they’d land in Nazi Germany?

"And the last act of the movie would be Indy trying to foil Mads' plan?"

However, according to the director, the more he 'sketched' that alternative ending out in his mind, the more it 'became kind of just a spy movie at the end'.

"I couldn't find a way to achieve emotional resonance," he added.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is now in cinemas worldwide.