Is Indiana Jones ‘Star Wars’ canon? George Lucas’ ultimate crossover, explained

For a series that’s being labelled as the most standalone entry in the Star Wars saga to date, Andor just featured one heck of an easter egg that ties together Lucasfilm’s two most beloved cinematic universes.

Episode four of Andor included a visit to Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard)’s antiques dealership, which naturally proved to be a terrific opportunity to drop a load of visual callbacks. On any other occasion, the helmet of The Force Unleashed‘s Starkiller would be the biggest talking-point, but another item on display actually manages to trump it: the whip of one Indiana Jones.

As spotted by eagle-eyed fans, what very much appears to be Indy’s iconic weapon encased in carbonite can be glimpsed in one shot. While this was no doubt intended simply as a background joke, continuity-obsessed fans will surely take this as confirmation that Indy’s adventures actually take place in the Star Wars universe. That’s ridiculous, right? There’s no way Dr. Jones is Star Wars canon… right?

Miraculously, this actually isn’t the first time Indiana Jones has been indicated to exist in the Star Wars universe. For that, we have to revisit an unfairly forgotten comic book from nearly 20 years ago.

Indy heads into the great unknown…

2004’s Star Wars #19, as published by Dark Horse Comics, is a non-canon anthology issue that is most notable for the story titled “Into the Great Unknown,” from W. Haden Blackman, Steve Dutrol, Sean Murphy, and Dan Jackson. It begins with Han Solo and Chewbacca fleeing from an Imperial fleet, causing them to jump into hyperspace without the proper coordinates.

This results in the Millennium Falcon crash-landing in a forest on a strange planet that the reader can recognize as Earth, where the pair run afoul of the indigenous species. In a shock twist, Han is actually killed by the natives, with Chewie laying him to rest in the captain’s chair of the Falcon.

In a stunning epilogue, the action then jumps 126 years into the future where we follow Dr. Indiana Jones and his sidekick Short Round as they discover the long-abandoned spaceship, with Indy suffering from some serious déjà vu when he comes across Solo’s skeleton (see above.)

This is definitely not the Star Wars/Indiana Jones crossover that fans would dream of, but you have to give credit to the creators of this comic for bringing Harrison Ford’s two most iconic characters together in the most macabre way possible. While it was never intended as part of continuity, Andor‘s whipsmart easter egg has brought “Into the Great Unknown” just that little bit closer to being canon.

Andor continues Wednesday’s on Disney Plus.