52 Movies That All Take Place In The Same Universe

41. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

It seems Artoo and Threepio weren't the only ones to make the jump from one galaxy to another. There's strong evidence that the home E.T., eponymous hero of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, pines for is in fact somewhere amongst Tatooine, Yavin et al. In the Senate scene where Amidala calls for a vote of no confidence in The Phantom Menace one group of the aliens getting riled up are the same species as the Reese's Pieces-loving creature. So, likely some time after the droids made their trip, his lot must have travelled on a long term exploration trip, accidentally leaving him behind. Quite why they were there we don't know - perhaps something went wrong and, like R2 and 3PO, they were looking for a new home. This explains why he gets so excited when he sees the Yoda costume on Halloween; this incredible coincidence genuinely reminds him of home.

40-39. 2001: A Space Odyssey And 2010: The Year We Make Contact

Star Wars Episode I doesn't just reference E.T. though. When trying to get a hold of a hyperdrive the old fashioned way (with money rather than extravagant bets), Qui-Gon Jinn and Watto walk past one of the EVA Pods from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Quite how one of the "smaller dealers" has not only the device the character's need, but something from a different galaxy we don't know, but it means Stanley Kubrick's 1968 genre masterpiece (and its better-than-you'd-expect sequel) is somehow related to that galaxy far, far away. Given how abstract 2001's monoliths are, it's entirely possible that Dave's transformation into the Star Child took him lightyears away from his home, dumping his vessel in the seeming middle of nowhere. Perhaps the beings who kept jumping man's development forward were even imbued with the Force.