In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Harrison Ford explained how the filmmakers digitally de-aged him for the flashback sequence: "They have this artificial intelligence program that can go through every foot of film that Lucasfilm owns. Because I did a bunch of movies for them, they have all this footage, including film that wasn't printed. So they can mine it from where the light is coming from, from the expression. I don't know how they do it. But that's my actual face. Then I put little dots on my face and I say the words and they make [it]. It's fantastic." At 80, he is the oldest actor to be de-aged in a movie, surpassing Al Pacino, who was 79 when he was de-aged in The Irishman (2019).
Harrison Ford would embark on 40-mile bike rides and daily walks to get in shape for his Indiana Jones role.
John Rhys-Davies had expressed interest in reprising his role as Sallah from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). He was offered a cameo in the wedding scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), but he "thought the character of Sallah is worth more to the audience than that."
During the train sequence when Indy is looking for the Lance of Longinus inside the train car of artifacts, the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) can be spotted on a shelf. That film was co-directed by Terry Jones, who also co-starred in it. Jones directed Barcelona, May 1917 (1992), in which he also portrayed Marcello.
George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Paramount Pictures first agreed to five Indiana Jones films in 1979.
Anthony Ingruber: Voice actor and Harrison Ford lookalike, as a Dutch Prince bidding at the auction in Morocco. Ingruber played a young version of Ford's character in The Age of Adaline (2015).
Sean Connery: A couple of photos of Henry Jones Sr. can be seen in the apartment of Indiana Jones in New York.