For many of us, we grew up loving Ke Huy Quan movies. As an Indiana Jones fan as a kid, I longed to know what happened to Short Round and Data was always my favorite in The Goonies. But, like many, I assumed he just didn’t want to act anymore. Which is why Everything Everywhere All At Once was such a surprise to us all. I remember seeing him, thinking to myself “I know that voice, I know that face” and coming out of the movie and crying knowing he was back.
Which has made his return and success so emotional to watch unfold. He took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his work as Waymond Wang and then got to celebrate the Best Picture win for Everything Everywhere All At Once at the end of the night. And who was the presenter for the award? Harrison Ford.
Ford played Indiana Jones opposite Quan in Temple of Doom and the two have had an emotional reunion back during D23 last year. But still, seeing Quan rush to the stage and hug Ford like he did back in his first acting role really did make fans emotional because it was really a ‘where it started and where Quan was now’ moment.
It was emotional because this was where it started for Quan. The first role he ever had was Short Round and it is time he gets the storyline he really deserves.
The reunion I need to happen again in Indy 5
One of the things I’ve said from the jump of this new Indiana Jones resurgence was that Short Round deserves his time. That was before Ke Huy Quan made his comeback. Now that he’s returned and is taking the world by storm, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be in the fifth movie. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny could, frankly, only be made better by including him in the story and giving him an actual name and arc.
With the plans they’re thinking of for the future of the franchise, I’d take any number of Short Round series or movies. Because we really did have Shorty and Indy together for one movie and then never again. Why? He would have still been with him through Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade. Instead, we just had Temple of Doom and then we heard nothing else about him.
Which frankly doesn’t seem fair. Now is the time to fix it. And seeing Quan and Ford together just reignited that feeling in me because they’d love it. So here’s to hoping that their recent reunion at the Oscars is far from the last time we see them together this year.
(featured image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
