Since its debut in 1981, the Indiana Jones franchise has become part of American popular culture. References have been made in television series, movies, music and other material since the original film was released.
Some of the most parodied scenes include: From Raiders of the Lost Ark, the opening adventure in the Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors, including seizing the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol and escaping from the different traps, including the rolling boulder trap. From Raiders of the Lost Ark, the final sequence where the Ark of the Covenant is packed into crate 9906753 and stored in Hangar 51. From Temple of Doom, the scene where Jones rolls under a closing door and reaches back under to pick up his fedora.
Star Wars Canon The Clone Wars: The Headpiece to the Staff of Ra (the headpiece on Senator Kharrus' staff) and the Ark of the Covenant appear in the first-season episodes "The Gungan General" and "Liberty on Ryloth" respectively, while the Season Three finale "Wookiee Hunt" includes the Crystal Skull of Akator from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in the Trandoshan trophy room. The dance sequence in the Season 3 episode "Hunt for Ziro" was inspired by the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Season Four's "Friends and Enemies" sees bounty hunter Cad Bane examining a fedora while looking for a new hat. In Season Five's fifth episode, "Tipping Points", Hondo Ohnaka's yacht Fortune and Glory, first appears, named in reference to the line from Temple of Doom. In Season Six's third episode, "Fugitive", droid AZ-3's reaction to Fives taking out a group of clones channels Henry Jones's when his son guns down Nazis at Castle Brunwald: "Look what you did... I can't believe what you did..." In Season Six story arc "The Disappeared" (by J. W. Rinzler), Peteen's dual role as both High Seneschal and secretive cultist was inspired by Chattar Lal while the script called for the protagonists to ride off "like the end of The Last Crusade." Rebels: Much of the structure in the latter half of the second season's half episodes was made with Last Crusade in mind, including "The Honorable Ones", "The Forgotten Droid" and "The Call". The Malachor Sith Temple from the season finale "Twilight of the Apprentice" was designed to be similar to the Temple of the Sun, with several challenges protecting the sought after Sith holocron. Arihnda Pryce shares Irina Spalko's look. The Holy Grail can be seen in the episode "Through Imperial Eyes". It was later identified by name in the episode's Rebels Recon behind-the-scenes video. The Force Awakens: Han Solo is chased through a corridor on his freighter by a spherical rathtar which reuses the sound effect of the Raiders of the Lost Ark rolling boulder. In the LEGO video game adaptation, Solo retrieves his hair before a door closes down, a nod to the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom spike chamber escape. Also, the Ark of the Covenant can be seen in the background when Rey first picks up her lightsaber at Maz Kanata's castle at Takodana. The Last Jedi: The Master Codebreaker who Finn, Rose Tico, and BB-8 search for at the casino in Canto Bight, wears a white tuxedo with red boutonnière, resembling the attire that Indiana Jones wears in the opening sequence of Temple of Doom, as noted by Lucasfilm Ltd. senior content and asset specialist Phil Szostak. Solo: A Star Wars Story: One of Dryden Vos' Crimson Dawn henchmen is named Toht Ra after both the Gestapo agent Arnold Ernst Toht and the Headpiece to the Staff of Ra he burns his hand on. The Chachapoyan Fertility Idol is also present among Vos' collection. The Mandalorian: In "Chapter 1," Jawas drive their sandcrawler into a canyon on Arvala-7 in an attempt to keep the titular Din Djarin from boarding. The sequence mirrors Indy's attempt to board a tank and liberate his friends from Nazis in Last Crusade.
Legends Indiana Jones is an unlockable character in LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga. The famous non-canon comic "Into the Great Unknown" features Indiana Jones and Short Round discovering the remains of Han Solo on Earth. LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 features a cameo by Jones. LEGO Star Wars: Bombad Bounty depicts Boba Fett trying to cross a Death Star hallway to get to Jar Jar Binks. However, he is stopped by three things: Han Solo chasing a small group of stormtroopers, several more stormtroopers chasing Han Solo, and Indiana Jones running from a boulder. Fett gets run over by the boulder, as he attempts to cross the hallway after Jones has passed through. Additionally, Mola Ram is a patron of the Mos Eisley cantina and Darth Vader sees LEGO Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Brick on his hospital TV before changing the channel. Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II: The Emperor encourages one of his royal guard to use their "Staff of Ra" in fixing an overhead vent. LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars: There are three references to Indiana Jones in this game. In the level "The Hidden Enemy", the player must stand on two buttons to reveal Indiana Jones and Henry Jones Sr. tied to a chair behind a bookshelf to collect a special object – a homage to the Castle Brunwald scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The second reference is in the level "Ambush". To obtain a collectible, the player must enter a room similar to the Well of Souls, and find the object inside the Ark of the Covenant by activating it – a reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Also, in the bonus mission "Hostage Crisis", the player must activate a screen, and make the player character jump to make the Indiana Jones on the screen jump as well to complete a small minigame – a strong similarity to the Xbox 360 Kinect and another homage to Indiana Jones. Return of the Ewok: In this mockumentary short starring Warwick Davis, the poster of Raiders of the Lost Ark is seen on producer Robert Watts' wall. Star Wars Detours: The first trailer shows Han Solo trying on Indiana Jones' fedora.
Marvel Cinematic Universe Captain America: The First Avenger: Red Skull dismisses Adolf Hitler as "digging for trinkets in the desert", a nod to the Nazis' search for the Ark of the Covenant at Tanis. Producer Kevin Feige stated that the film's crew took inspiration from Raiders to make the audience feel the film was a period piece. Guardians of the Galaxy: The opening scene with Peter Quill obtaining the orb is an homage to the opening scene of Raiders, later on with Quill at one point describing the orb as having an "Ark of the Covenant, Maltese Falcon vibe." Avengers: Age of Ultron: Brian Tyler's music score for the film pays homage to John Williams' score for Raiders (as well as Star Wars and Superman: The Movie). Agent Carter: In the episode "Better Angels" a mention is made of a Professor "Abner Brody" who travels to Peru. The name is a portmanteau of two characters from Raiders – the unseen Abner Ravenwood and National Museum curator Marcus Brody. Avengers: Infinity War: When Ebony Maw attempts to obtain the Time Stone from around Doctor Strange's neck, his palm is severely burned thanks to Strange's protective spell, in a manner similar to how Toht received the imprint of the Headpiece to the Staff of Ra on his hand in Raiders. Avengers: Endgame: When War Machine and Nebula time travel back to 2014 to obtain the Orb before Star-Lord on Morag, War Machine warns his companion that the Orb's tomb must have skeletons on spikes and traps because it's how many other temples with artifacts are protected, indirectly referencing Raiders. Loki: The second-season episode Science/Fiction sees Loki recruiting physicist and sci-fi writer A.D. Doug to help him develop the time-travel technology that will underlie the existence of the Time Variance Authority. One of the shelves in Doug's workshop displays a New York Giants baseball cap like the one worn by Short Round. Doug, known at the TVA as Ouroboros (O.B.), is played by Ke Huy Quan, who played Short Round in Temple of Doom.
Film Borat: The movie parodies the flight map sequence of Indiana Jones Toy Story: When Buzz Lightyear is trying to outrun the globe, he is parodying the famous boulder scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: The poster of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is seen. Back at the Barnyard: The scene with the idol and sandbag from Raiders of the Lost Ark is parodied when Pip the Rat tries to get the cheese off a mouse trap. Chicken Little: A clip from the Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana Jones escapes from the giant boulder at the Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors is seen on a theater at Oakey Oaks before the boulder-like water tank of a destroyed water tower destroys the screen during the chaos caused by Chicken Little and his claims call that the sky is falling. Chicken Run: After Ginger and Rocky escape from Mrs. Tweedy's pie machine, she reaches under a closing door to retrieve her hat similar to Indy's way to retrieve his fedora in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Condorito: La Película: When Condorito and Coné are at the jungle temple to recover the amulet of hypnosis for Emperor Molusco, they are chased by Condorito's ancestor, who is now a mummy. Immediately, wearing an attire similar to that of Indiana Jones, Condorito gets involved with Coné and the Condor Mummy in a mine cart chase which references Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Despicable Me 2: When Felonious Gru suspects that Eduardo Perez is actually the supposedly deceased supervillain El Macho, he follows him to his secret lair during his party of Cinco de Mayo, where he finds that to access to the lair, he has to go through a platform that activates the door access code sounds music, very similar to the wall-mounted poison dart launchers chamber of the Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Dora and the Lost City of Gold: The film's climax takes inspiration from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – upon finding a part of Parapata's treasure, Alejandro Gutierrez fails to open the doors leading to the city's greatest treasure and falls into a deathly trap while Dora Márquez succeeds on opening it, to which Princess Kawillaka assures her that she chose wisely, much like when the Grail Knight congrats Indiana Jones for selecting the Holy Grail whereas Walter Donovan selected the False Grail. DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp: As well as the utilizing the same font as the Indiana Jones films, promotional material – including one by Indiana Jones movie poster artist Drew Struzan – shows Scrooge McDuck sporting a fedora and carrying a rope over one shoulder similar to Jones and his bullwhip which does not occur in the feature itself. Fanboys: While the plot of the movie concerns a group of Star Wars fans breaking into Skywalker Ranch to see a rough cut of Episode I in 1998, Indiana Jones items are seen and mentioned as being part of the ranch's prop collection. Lines from the movies are quoted and the three theatrical posters sit on the wall of George Lucas's office. The Hangover: When his bag is dismissed as a purse, one character insists it is a satchel like Indiana Jones carries. Howard the Duck: A duck-themed variation of Richard Amsel's Raiders of the Lost Ark movie poster can be seen on the titular Howard's wall named Breeders of the Lost Stork. My Spy: JJ and Victor Marquez allude to Raiders of the Lost Ark as they engage in a fistfight near a moving plane in an airfield. Paul: The titular alien can be seen giving Steven Spielberg movie tips out of Hangar 51 while Short Round is later mentioned near the close of the movie. Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams: OSS agent Carmen can be seen picking up the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol from a pile of gold.