12 Recent Movie Sequels That Outrageously Ruined Great Characters

Then they came for Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), one of the greatest film heroes of all time.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny's depiction of Jones as a broken, miserable high-functioning alcoholic was not pleasant to watch at all, and while the mostly terrible fourth film gave Jones a happy ending, this sequel completely undoes that - Jones' son Mutt died in the Vietnam War and he's now separated from Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen, who appears at the end in a meaningless cameo). Honestly, all of this felt kind-of mean and it didn't serve the story that well.

Speaking of story, why is Indiana Jones such a beloved character? Well, it's arguable that the key reason he worked so well in the original films because he was such a well-written and human character who subtly but palpably grew into a better person with each adventure.

Dial of Destiny, on the other hand, beats poor Indy down, doesn't give him any sort of character growth and he spends most of the film playing second-fiddle to that ghastly Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who's surely one of the most annoying film characters in any recent blockbuster.

And then, during the film's time travel finale, he asks Helena to leave him behind in the past to die, and he only gets back because she knocks him out.

Essentially, Indiana Jones became a miserable passenger in his own movie, and he deserved so much better.