Does Ke Huy Quan Return as Short Round In 'Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny'?

We will freely admit that when the great Ke Huy Quan was reunited with Harrison Ford onstage after winning an Oscar earlier this year, we cried. After all, as a child actor in the 80s, Ke played Harrison Ford's sidekick Short Round in the classic (but controversial) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

But with Ke making a much-deserved comeback after Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, the question is: will he be back in the upcoming Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny? Let's investigate.

As much as we would all love an adult Short Round to join Indy on the latest adventure in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny...it isn't happening this time around as confirmed by Ke. When 80-year-old Harrison Ford returns as everyone's favorite professor/adventurer on June 30, he will not have his trusty sidekick with him. Salah (John Rys-Davies) will be there, so that's fun.

But that doesn't mean we've seen the last of Short Round...

HOWEVER, is Ke open to coming back as the iconic scamp? You bet he is! He told Variety,

"I love the character of Short Round. He’s funny and courageous and saves Indy’s ass. If Disney or Lucasfilm ever come to me and say, ‘We want to do a Short Round spin-off’, I’m there man! I love that character so much and it would just be incredible to revisit so many years later."

Disney and Lucasfilm are far from dumb. We're pretty sure that EVERYONE would watch a Short Round adventure series on Disney+. Like, seriously, who makes more sense as the next hero in the series: Short Round or that weird Mutt guy Shia LaBeouf played in that weird Indian Jones movie with the aliens?

Ke was in two huge films in the 80s, Indiana Jones and The Goonies, where he played inventor Data. Then, as often happens to child actors, he began to work less and less. He would pop up in small rolls now and then, (like with his fellow 2023 Oscar Winner Brendan Fraser in Encino Man).

Not to mention the fact that for decades in Hollywood there weren't many parts for Asian-American actors.

Lucky for us, Ke never gave up and he made his giant comeback in Best Picture Winner Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. Ke's performance was so good that Hollywood had to recognize his talent. Ke made it back and we're happy to have him.

We think that Disney needs to jump on the momentum and bring back Short Round for a new series. After all, Harrison Ford can't possibly keep jumping off cars and punching Nazis forever (Can he?)

We think it's time for Dr. Jones to hand over the fedora to Short Round.