Indiana Jones 5 is a continuation of The Crystal Skull

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We all collectively had one caveat for our support of Disney moving ahead with Indiana Jones 5: burn every memory of The Crystal Skull and you may proceed.

Which is exactly what hasn't happened. Following the hire of Crystal Skull's sreenwriter David Koepp, producer Frank Marshall has now confirmed the fifth entry's plot will be a direct continuation of its predecessor.

It's not entirely surprising news; as much as Crystal Skull may be critically and popularly reviled, Disney aren't the kind to make a move so bold as to utterly erase a film from its canon. Luckily, The Force Awakens' position on the Star Wars timeline blessed it with minimal acknowledgement of the prequels; yet, Indiana Jones 5 is going to have a tougher time trying to break free from its predecessor's shadow.

Does that mean the return of Shia LaBeouf's Mutt? Or will he be conveniently packed off to race motorycles on the opposite side of the world? Or even more awkwardly: the utterly tragic, but deeply convenient, death of Indiana Jones' aggravating son?

Speaking at a Q&A after being named CinemaCon's producer of the decade (via Variety), Marshall enthused about Disney's first cinematic outing with the franchise; declaring it "pretty sweet" to return to the series which had first introduced him to director Steven Spielberg and his own future wife Kathleen Kennedy, who is now president of Lucasfilm and a large part of what made The Force Awakens such a resounding success.

Marshall also seemed to confim two things about Indiana Jones' future; that further sequels would be possible, but that Chris Pratt-starring reboot that was so long rumoured is out of the question. "It’s all about the story. I think both in the Jason Bourne series and on Indiana Jones, we are not going to do the Bond thing," he stated. "We think those characters are iconic, and those are the only actors who can play that."

Indiana Jones 5 is set for release 19 July, 2019.