Stealing from a Thief Who Stole from a Thief

A new trailer for the long-awaited fifth installment of the iconic adventures of Indiana Jones dropped yesterday at Star Wars Celebration.

Only 83 more days until Harrison Ford returns as the legendary archaeologist, but who’s really counting, right?

The trailer begins with the music of The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil,” which is heard throughout most of the trailer. After a few beginning scenes showing Indy’s retirement, his goddaughter, Helena (played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge), reminds him of the “Dial of Destiny.”

The trailer doesn’t provide any information on what this “Dial of Destiny” is, except that it could “change the course of history.”

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, director James Mangold didn’t provide any additional insight into what this item is or what it does. “I can’t, because I don’t want to give the movie away,” Mangold told EW. “But is there a relic in this movie that possesses a kind of power, or may possess a kind of power? And is it based on history and scientific speculation? Yes.”

Predicting that this “dial” would possess some kind of power shouldn’t be too surprising. After all, some mythical or magical artifact has always been at the core of each Indiana Jones movie—the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, a sacred stone, and the crystal skull.

Whatever the “dial” is, it was apparently stolen a few times.

Again, there’s limited information from the trailer itself, but it appears that the main antagonist of the upcoming movie is Jürgen Voller (played by Mads Mikkelsen). The trailer suggests that Jürgen Voller, a former Nazi official who was involved in the 1969 Apollo program, wants the “dial” to complete the work of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Here’s an exchange from the trailer at about the one-minute mark:

Jürgen Voller: “Hitler made mistakes, and with this, I will correct them all.”

Indiana Jones: “You stole it.”

Jürgen Voller: “Then you stole it.”

Helena: “And then I stole it. It’s called capitalism.”

Sorry, Helena—it’s not “capitalism.” It’s still theft, or common law “larceny,” for bar exam purposes.

Common law larceny requires a taking and carrying away of someone else's tangible personal property by trespass with the intent to deprive that person of his interest in the property for an unreasonable amount of time.

Stolen tangible personal property can be the subject of larceny.

Common law larceny requires a taking and carrying away of someone else's tangible personal property by trespass with the intent to deprive that person of his interest in the property for an unreasonable amount of time.

Now, let’s dissect that exchange from the trailer. We don’t have a lot to examine from the two-minute trailer, but let’s just assume that Jürgen Voller stole the “dial” from whomever the rightful owner was—perhaps Helena’s father or a museum. If that's the case, Jürgen Voller committed larceny.

If Indy subsequently stole the “dial” from Jürgen Voller, then Indy is also guilty of larceny unless Indy had a superior possessory interest in the “dial,” which is likely not the case.

Then, if Helena subsequently stole the “dial” from Indy, then she, too, is likely guilty of larceny, which means that her taking the "dial" isn't "capitalism.” It’s a crime.

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” hits theaters June 30, 2023.