Mads Mikkelsen’s Indiana Jones 5 Villain Has No Connection To Toht (Besides Nazism & Fashion)

Mads Mikkelson told Total Film magazine that Voller is loosely based on Wernher von Braun, and talked about how “the Americans […] opened their arms and their doors for scientists from the Third Reich. And they closed their eyes in regards to whatever atrocity they might have committed.” 

Voller, in other words, is a representation of the United States’ own culpability in allowing and encouraging Nazi ideas to survive. He’s an “Indiana Jones” villain fit for a modern age that’s more familiar with the chilling idea of Nazis becoming integrated into everyday society. On Voller’s comparisons to Toht, Mikkelson expressed his warm feelings for Ronald Lacey’s fiendishly slimy Gestapo agent. “I love that character,” said the actor, noting that “he’s part of making” the black coat, hat and glasses look “iconic.” He added:

“We didn’t go that far with the character. It would have been interesting. [Toht] was more of a henchman, I would say. And this guy is the brain behind a lot of things. So they were not going down the same path. But I am wearing glasses. That’s one thing. But we tried to avoid copying him at all, because he did it to perfection.”

In other words, Voller is a completely different character despite their incredibly similar appearances. Toht was a sadistic torturer who added a layer of chaotic menace to Indy’s rogues gallery, but he was also under the command of rival archaeologist René Belloq and Colonel Herman Dietrich. Voller seems to be his own master, and his methods are more cunning than the more outwardly malicious Toht, a role that admittedly sounds pretty perfect for Mikkelson.

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” opens in theaters on June 30, 2023.