What happened to Shia Lebeouf ? he's Indy's son ain't he ? surely he could step into his old man's Alden 405's & carry on the family business of artefact theft, reporting back to dad/Ford comfortably installed in the sunny acres retirement home from time to time.
They said right from the start that Shia LaGoof would not be invited back for Indy V. My guess is that they'll include a line of dialogue explaining he's off somewhere building motorcycles or some such, and that'll be the end of that.
John Lofgren Monkey Boots Shinki Horsebuttt - $1,136 The classic monkey boot silhouette in an incredibly rich Shinki russet horse leather. 
Grant Stone Diesel Boot Dark Olive Chromexcel - $395 Goodyear welted, Horween Chromexcel, classic good looks. 
Schott 568 Vandals Jacket - $1,250 The classic Perfecto motorcycle jacket, in a very special limited-edition Schott double rider style. 
That's a bit harsh - he hardly plumbed the Jar Jar Binks depths.
I'd say more the Wesley Crusher of the Indy world.
I must confess my problem with the (Slick?) character has more to do with Shia LaDouche than the character itself. I don't always hate his roles, but he's hardly the rough and tumble type. To your next point, I've always been baffled by why the franchise abandoned Short Round. He was a great character, and it was an interesting relationship. Why not develop him as Indy's protege and heir-apparent? (Although, I do seem to be in the minority in my appreciation for Temple of Doom.)
I'm pretty sure Mutt would be a draft dodger.
I'm not convinced it would need to be set in the past, but re-introducing Short Round could be interesting if it was handled properly. Ke "Jonathan" Huy-Quan, who is currently 46 years old, could play an older Short Round who for one reason or another wound up being on the "wrong" side of things in the intervening years, and is conflicted between his loyalty to whoever he's working for and his past when Indy shows up. On the other hand, he hasn't had much of an acting career post Temple of Doom and hasn't been involved in making movies since 2002 according to IMDb, so he might not be willing to reprise that role.
See, this is why I probably couldn't work in Hollywood--I was trying to think of an interesting story, and the international marketing possibilities and pitfalls hadn't entered into it. In that regard, I think your story idea would work better--Short Round is working somewhere in the Chinese government, they need someone to recover a historical artifact, Short Round naturally recommends Indy, and the action ensues. Handled properly, it could put both the Chinese and American governments in a good light and possibly show they weren't so different during the Cold War after all. Of course, if Mr. Lucas was still involved Indy's success in this venture would pave the way for then-President Nixon's visit to China in 1972. Hey, I think we've just handed them the bones for a good story that would make almost everyone happy! Scriptwriters, get to work!
Harrison Ford is approximately the same age now that George Hall was when they filmed the first season of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
I haven't seen any of the television or movie projects Jon Kasden has written for, but on another forum I frequent that's populated by movie fanatics there's a great deal of concern about this announcement. It seems Disney/Lucasfilm are attempting a "passing of the torch" behind the scenes as well as in front of the camera, and a lot of fans are dissatisfied with their choices.
Where Indy meets a young up and coming duo by the name of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, inspiring them both to create one of the most influential adventure movies of the modern era.
Good grief, don't give 'em any ideas.
