Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Sallah escape the temple and then ride off into the sunset. Lucas and Spielberg had intended to make a trilogy of "Indiana Jones" films since Lucas had first pitched "Raiders of the Lost Ark" to Spielberg in 1977. After the mixed critical and public reaction to "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", Spielberg decided to complete the trilogy to fulfill his promise to Lucas and "to apologize for the second one". The pair had the intention of revitalizing the series by evoking the spirit and tone of "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Throughout the film's development and pre-production,
Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix was featured as a central villain. After this game, LucasArts briefly considered making a game named "Spear of Destiny" (involving the spear of Longinus). They eventually abandoned the idea of creating a classical adventure game in the "Indiana Jones" series, instead focusing on "Tomb Raider"-style 3D action games. Thus, ending it with the release of "Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine", followed by "Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb" and "Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings". Since the game, "Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix" was canceled, Dark Horse Comics released a four-part comic book series based upon it.