Did Han Solo Dream The Indiana Jones Movies? Star Wars' Wildest Theory Explained
George Lucas probably didn't invent the Easter egg, but he may have created some of the first and most famous ones. There are numerous Easter eggs in the "Indiana Jones" franchise that "Star Wars" fans have been talking about for decades. C-3PO and R2-D3 are scratched into an Egyptian column, and a bar is named after Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness). There are also a few "Indiana Jones" Easter eggs in the "Star Wars" franchise as well. But according to a wild theory, these references are more than just Easter eggs but indicative of something even deeper.
The TikTok of self-professed movie detective Ivan Mars lays out the theory that because of all the crossover references, "Indiana Jones" is actually nothing more than a fever dream experienced by Han Solo (Harrison Ford) while he was asleep in carbonite between the end of "Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back" and "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi." Of course, the TikTok clip paints the theory as a new revelation, but in the comments, people are ridiculing the poster for just figuring something out that fans have been talking about for decades.
While there is no real confirmation of this being something the filmmakers intended, the number of Easter eggs is compelling. Of course, we as fans love to theorize these things, and this one may just connect two of the most famous and beloved franchises of the last four decades.
Han Solo had ample time to dream
During "Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back," Han Solo is with the entire group of protagonists save Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). They seem safe in Cloud City until they are double-crossed by Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams). Once he hands them over to Darth Vader, they trap Luke and force a confrontation between the father and son. Solo is given over to Boba Fett and sent to Jabba the Hutt to collect the bounty on his head.
A year later, Solo is still locked in carbonite on the wall of Jabba's palace. That is until Luke and Leia (Carrie Fisher) show up to free him. But the time he spent in carbonite is a whole year of unconscious sleep, plenty of time for him to come up with dozens of dreams. According to the theory, he dreamt up everything from "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" to "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," which sounds plausible for someone who had been asleep for so long.
Star Wars Easter eggs in Indiana Jones
There are numerous moments in the "Indiana Jones" franchise that call back to the world's favorite galaxy far, far away. All four of the previous films have at least one Easter egg hidden within them. "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" has two. The first showing the plane that whisks Indy away from his first adventure has the call sign of OB-CPO, calling back to the two characters, Obi-Wan Kenobi and C-3PO. The second Easter egg is the most famous, with C-3PO and R2-D2 carved in hieroglyphs on a post in the Well of Souls surrounded by snakes.
"Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" starts off with a great scene involving Indy conducting a deal with Lao Che (Roy Chiao). After the deal goes south, Indy has to escape in an exciting scene that sees him meet his new love interest, Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw). For the eagle-eyed fans, one of the more exciting moments in the scene is when an establishment called Club Obi-Wan appears in the background.
"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" featured a quick shot of barrels on the side of a boat with the word Carboneto stenciled into the side, a clear reference to the carbonite in "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi." And finally, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" features one of the best Easter eggs when Indy utters the famous "Star Wars" line, "I have a bad feeling about this."
Indiana Jones Easter eggs in Star Wars
Of course, the "Indiana Jones" franchise isn't the only one pulling "Star Wars" franchise icons into it for fun. The opposite is also true as the later "Star Wars" projects call back to Harrison Ford's other legacy role. In a comprehensive list, "Star Wars Explained" lists dozens of Easter eggs in the science fiction series. Most of them are included in the animated series, but the live-action projects have a few fun moments as well that lend credit to the theory.
The first was in "Solo: A Star Wars Story," which saw the origins of our scruffy-looking nerf herder. While in the office of Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) sits on a couch while Vos and Beckett (Woody Harrelson) speak. Over his shoulder, you can see the fertility idol from the beginning of "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark." Also, in "Andor," Luthen Rael's (Stellan Skarsgård) shop contained a treasure trove of trinkets, including Indiana's whip encased in carbonite and the Sankara stones from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom."
Of course, we may never get any kind of confirmation that Ford's two legacy characters are, in fact, the same guy, one in the real world and one in the dream world. And there are several real-life events and elements (the Nazis and later on, the Cold War, for instance) that feature in the narratives of the "Indiana Jones" films, all of which are far removed from the "Star Wars" universe. But we can't deny that the two worlds sort of cross over. And honestly, Han Solo and Indiana Jones are both sarcastic, funny, and a little scruffy-looking. So maybe there is something to this after all.