8 Ways Indiana Jones Almost Turned Out Completely Different

5. He Was Almost A Kung-Fu Master

One of the most interesting conversations to have taken place during the pre-production stages of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, back when Indy was less of a character and more of a mish-mash of concepts and personality traits, took place between Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. They spent nine hours sitting around a table and spitballing ideas with regards to everything. And some pretty crazy suggestions were made. One of the wackiest - and downright ludicrous - suggestions came from (you guessed it) George Lucas, who at one time imagined Indiana Jones as the sort of character who happened to be well-versed in... kung-fu. Yes, during the meeting, Lucas outlined his thoughts on Indy's potential skillset: you know, his talents with a bullwhip, the fact that he's an excellent shot with a gun, and - of course - his samurai warrior kung fu knowledge... Seriously. That's not a joke. During the conversation, Lucas threw around the idea to "make him a super samurai warrior. I was thinking kung-fu. Karate." And the icing on the cake with regards to these Asian-influenced moves came when the group banded around suggestions regarding the hero's final conflict with Toht. "He could karate chop him," said Lucas. Karate chop. Toht. Good God, George.