Explanation of How Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and E.T. Share the Same Universe

[Terrence Clay]

http://geektyrant.com/news/explanation-of-how-indiana-jones-star-wars-and-et-share-the-same-universe

I've come across a very interesting theory that Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and E.T. might actually all take place in the same universe. I love the idea that in some way these stories and worlds are connected with each other.

io9 commenter plaidboy broke down the details and laid out a road map for how this is possible. It's absolutely fascinating, and even though this was probably never the intention of the filmmakers it's still some incredibly cool speculation.

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_141159079676711&key=49ebc289a21927599d92d11764fee566&libId=4a236416-f7a0-4208-a6b4-44a9bedfd275&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fgeektyrant.com%2Fnews%2Fexplanation-of-how-indiana-jones-star-wars-and-et-share-the-same-universe&v=1&out=http%3A%2F%2Fio9.com%2Fdo-indiana-jones-star-wars-and-e-t-take-place-in-a-s-1638254475&title=Explanation%20of%20How%20Indiana%20Jones%2C%20Star%20Wars%2C%20and%20E.T.%20Share%20the%20Same%20Universe%20%E2%80%94%20GeekTyrant&txt=io9

Here's his full explanation of how this could be possible:


"[I] loathe to validate anything about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But stick with me here; it's a little meta.

"Let's start by looking at things chronologically and diagetically, beginning a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.

"The Star Wars happen. Yoda is a prominent senate member. Also in the galactic senate: representatives of the alien race that would eventually include ET.

"On earth:

"1936, China - Indiana Jones meets Lao Che in Club Obi Wan.

"1938, Egypt - Indiana Jones passes hieroglyphic depicting R2-D2 and C3PO.

"1982, America - Young Elliot befriends a stranded alien, ET, and shows him action figures of Lando and Greedo.

"The Star Wars, as a story, exists on Earth. As a story. But then, on Halloween, ET sees a boy dressed as YODA and RECOGNIZES HIM. So not only is Star Wars a story on Earth, but it's now confirmed as a TRUE story.

"We can see the story was laid out on the walls of the tombs and pyramids, thousands of years ago. This story eventually moved across the Asiatic continent, inspire legends and myths of lone samurai types defeating an empire, translating itself into lifestyles of the orient, and eventually, Club Obi Wan. Its universal heroes made their way into the cultural consciousness, eventually resulting in an epic film series depicting these ancient characters, ripping the story and images directly from the walls of the now well investigated tombs.

"So then, how did this story get here?

"The pyramids of the east and west were mysteriously built around the same time period by cultures an ocean apart. It's long been theorized that there was some sort of extraterrestrial intervention. This is confirmed by the presence of the aliens in Crystal Skull, their ship buried underneath a pyramid in Central America.

"Given these diagetic clues, I think it's completely reasonable to assume that the crystal skull aliens brought us this story, immortalizing it on the walls of the structures they helped us to build. Their gift was knowledge. Knowledge of the Star Wars."

After having read that, are you convinced that these stories could take place in the same universe? I want to believe that it's true, so in my head it is, and now I'm happy.

[madar...@gmail.com]

Yes, they all take place in the Steven Spielberg/George Lucas/Hollywood-turned-into-a-pile-of-shit universe. People like you can wallow in it as much as you want, just don't tell me about it.

[Terrence Clay]

http://ohilodude.wordpress.com/2014/09/07/what-exactly-is-the-lucasspielberg-universe/

So in case you didn’t know, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are pretty good pals. They have been for a long time, and they’ve even sometimes made bets on whose movie will make more money. The two of them have even collaborated, in the Indiana Jones franchise.

tumblr_l6i7x0ZRfx1qd39nmo1_500

But the most interesting thing about the friendship between these two film-making legends, is their obsession with referencing each other’s films in their own movies.

Since 1977, these two have been throwing Easter Eggs all over the place in their movies, as a sort of nod to the other party. But through this they have accomplished something that might actually be more complicated than they had intended. They have created a Cinematic Universe.

What I am going to be suggesting today, is that the following films by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas take place within the same expansive continuity:
◾Star Wars (1977)
◾Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
◾The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
◾Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
◾E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
◾Return of the Jedi (1983)
◾Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
◾Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
◾Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
◾Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
◾Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
◾Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 – 2014)
◾Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

I’ll start where it all began.

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The Star Wars Franchise (1977 – Present)

The Star Wars franchise, particularly the original trilogy, is widely known as one of the best stories ever told. It involves lots of space travel, epic battles, great characters, and the Force.

But in the context of which I am speaking of it today, the most important thing about it is that it takes place a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away. The whole Star Wars saga comes first in this cinematic universe’s timeline.

The purpose of the opening crawl in every Star Wars movie is to give the impression that it was sent from a distant planet long ago, to tell the people of Earth the story of Star Wars, as a message or warning of sorts.

ESBOpeningCrawl

This will ultimately be the reason why you will see so many Star Wars references pop up in the other movies in this universe. But there is one in particular that contradicts everything about what I am writing. And that’s the fact that Star Wars exists as a film in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982). The little boy plays with Star Wars toys, and there is somebody dressed as Yoda for Halloween.

ZkmjB

But this Earth is different from ours. In this universe, Star Wars was not a fictional message, but a real one that was sent to Earth. The events of Star Wars really DID happen in the same universe as E.T., and it was a very long time ago. The biggest evidence for this is that we can see E.T.’s species in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999).

tumblr_m8p0tmdtoz1qcw9y0o1_500

image

And maybe when E.T. is flying through the sky on a bicycle, he is actually using the force. This would then make E.T. a Jedi.

ET_Moon

E.T. was actually not the first time Earth experienced aliens coming to their planet though. There was another film, 5 years earlier, where this happened.

11-Close-Encounters-of-the-Third-Kind

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

In this film, we see not just one alien, but a whole ship full of them come to visit Earth. And the Government gets heavily involved.close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-original11

Much like how they get involved in E.T. five years later. Seeing as how it’s the second time it’s happened, that we know of.

goodvillains-et-590x350

There’s also a Star Wars tie-in, where we can clearly see an R2D2 type of droid hanging down from the alien’s ship.

image (1)

Also, the look of the aliens in the ship will be important later. So keep that in mind.

image (2)

For now, let’s go back even further on Earth.

raiders_of_the_lost_ark-_65

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

In this movie, we see Indiana Jones’ adventure to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis get their hands on it. It takes place in 1936, before the events of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The thing that really ties this movie in with the rest of this cinematic universe, mostly revolves around the Ark of the Covenant’s origin. Next to the Ark of the Covenant, among the Hieroglyphics on the wall, a drawing of R2D2 and C3P0 can be clearly seen.

image (3)

So it’s reasonable to assume that the Ark of the Covenant was actually brought to Earth by Star Wars characters a very long time ago. But you don’t have to assume it, because it actually happened.

image (4)

Let’s get a closer look at that.

image (5)

Recognize anything? You should, because that’s the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark.indiana_jones_and_the_raiders_of_the_lost_ark_1981_1600x1200_872221

This little background shot from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series is extremely impactful on this universe. They are literally hauling the Ark of the Covenant into the back of a ship, presumably to be taken to Earth, where they will leave R2D2 and C3P0 Hieroglyphs as a hint to it’s origin. IT’S MIND-BLOWING!

And yes, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is canon in this universe because George Lucas said it himself.

This would also explain why the Ark has supernatural powers, and melts people’s faces off if they look at it when it’s opened.

Raiders-of-the-lost-ark-melting-face

There’s also a club called Club Obi Wan in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which is another reference to the fact that Star Wars is both a movie, and a documentary in this universe.Obiwan

This of course then also ties in both of the other Indiana Jones movies: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008).

Actually, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has a significant tie-in to another movie that I mentioned earlier.

Kingdomofthecrystalskull

This movie takes place in 1957, which is still before Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It ends with Indiana Jones finding aliens, that have seemingly been on Earth for a very long time.image (4)

But the thing about these aliens, is that they look not just similar, but identical to the aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

image (5)

The big eyes, the small nose, the long head, everything about them makes them look like the same species.

image (6)

image (7)

I think Steven Spielberg definitely intended this.

So, does this mean when the aliens came to Earth in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, they were actually looking for the aliens that came here many years before them? Or maybe they were looking for the Ark of the Covenant, since it’s alien in origin? Or perhaps both? It could be possible. There’s nothing that contradicts it.

Also, you could throw Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds (2005) into this as well, as a way of the aliens coming to Earth for revenge.

l_58715_0407304_6bd05955

There are contradictions to this though, in the fact that it was adapted from an old novel by H.G. Wells. But maybe those aliens were looking for the Ark of the Covenant too! They just weren’t as nice about it.

war2

So, with all of this being said, the continuity of the Lucas/Spielberg Cinematic Universe is as follows:
◾Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
◾Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
◾Star Wars: The Clone Wars
◾Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
◾Star Wars
◾The Empire Strikes Back
◾Return of the Jedi
◾Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – 1935
◾Raiders of the Lost Ark – 1936
◾Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – 1938
◾Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – 1957
◾Close Encounters of the Third Kind – 1977
◾E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial – 1982
◾War of the Worlds – 2005

Well, that’s the Lucas/Spielberg Universe. A story of space battle, space exploration, macguffins, and aliens.

There are of course more additions to this universe on the way, as six new Star Wars films are coming out starting next year, and there’s another Indiana Jones movie in development.

[madar...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, September 24, 2014 4:38:25 PM UTC-4, Terrence Clay wrote:
>

Oh, no! This is what I get for feeding the troll. His posts have MULTIPLIED!!!!!!!

[madar...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, September 25, 2014 1:20:12 PM UTC-4, madar...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Wednesday, September 24, 2014 4:38:25 PM UTC-4, Terrence Clay wrote:
>
> >
>
>
>
> Oh, no! This is what I get for feeding the troll. His posts have MULTIPLIED!!!!!!!

Actually his 1991 and High School movie posts weren't bad. It's when he got into the whole "universe" conundrum that he went off the deep end.

[Bill Steele]

It's fun, but all it proves is that filmmakers like to drop in
references to their other work. Like Superman music in The Goonies.

[Terrence Clay]

On Thursday, September 25, 2014 10:20:12 AM UTC-7, madar...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Wednesday, September 24, 2014 4:38:25 PM UTC-4, Terrence Clay wrote:
>
> >
>
>
>
> Oh, no! This is what I get for feeding the troll. His posts have MULTIPLIED!!!!!!!

How am I a fucking troll for daring to reply to you in regard to trying to further embellishing a particular point of view!? You're the one who bothered to respond in the first place in regards to my dreaded "universe" conundrum!

[Terrence Clay]

Why are you here then if you don't want to respond to me like a thoughtful and rationale adult and not a smartass!?

[madar...@gmail.com]

Who said anyone around here was "a thoughtful and rationale [sic] adult and not a smartass"?

[Bill Steele]

You can't be a troll if you're posting about movies, and we have plenty
of room for fantasy. Remember the discussion we had about situations
where characters from one movie showed up in another?

[madar...@gmail.com]

Okay, he's not a troll.
And I'm not a thoughtful, rational adult.
So we're even.

[sctvguy1]

Just put the asshole in a kill file. This group is my largest kill file
group, due to assholes, cross-posters, and just plain trolls.