Dial of Destiny’ — here’s why

SPOILER ALERT: Major plot points are revealed below — so don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Put on your fedoras and crank out your bullwhip because Indiana Jones is taking you on another wild ride.

But there’s one noteworthy character missing from the fifth installment of the iconic action-adventure franchise.

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” has finally swung its way into theaters and a lot has changed since the last time viewers saw Harrison Ford’s archeologist.

The character previously appeared in the series’ fourth flick, 2008’s “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which also featured Indiana’s son, Mutt Williams, played by Shia LaBeouf, as they set off on another historical quest in 1957.

However, in “Dial,” Mutt is noticeably absent — with his storyline all tied up.

The newest installment takes place in 1969, amid the turmoil of the Vietnam War, and shows Indy — still a professor and now teaching at Hunter College but on the verge of retirement — shockingly living alone in a small apartment in Manhattan.

One day, his estranged goddaughter, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), approaches him with a new journey that piques his interest, and as they begin their search for the mysterious dial of the film’s title, Indy shares some startling information.

He reveals that, tragically, Mutt decided to enlist in the military and was killed while serving in the war.

In the wake of his death, Indy’s wife, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) — whom he married in the epilogue of “Crystal Skull” — decided to leave him, as the grief was too much for either one of them to bear.

LaBeouf’s omission from the fifth “Indy” movie — and that of his character — may have been an easy decision on the part of the filmmakers.

He reportedly was not even invited to appear in the new movie, after criticizing “Crystal Skull” in 2010.

“I feel like I dropped the ball on the legacy that people loved and cherished,” LaBeouf said of his performance to the Los Angeles Times. “If I was going to do it twice, my career was over. So this was fight-or-flight for me. The actor’s job is to make it come alive and make it work, and I couldn’t do it.”

Ford — who turns 81 on July 13 — had a tart response to LaBeouf’s flaming of the flick.

“I think I told him he was a f – – king idiot,” he said of LaBeouf in a 2011 “Today” show interview. “As an actor, I think it’s my obligation to support the film without making a complete ass of myself.

“Shia is ambitious, attentive and talented — and he’s learning how to deal with a situation which is very unique and difficult,” Ford bluntly added.

As for the “Star Wars” octogenarian’s future in the franchise, Ford’s turn in “Dial of Destiny” marks his final outing as the character.

He “felt a sense of peace, a sense of contentment” about closing the book on Indy, Ford revealed in a recent, emotional interview.

“The feeling I had is the feeling you have when you’ve made something, and you can look at it, or you can remember having made it, the satisfaction of putting work in, and getting something worthy out of it,” Ford said.