May the 4th be with your readers. Star Wars has been around for over 40 years, and in that time, it has become enormously popular and crossed over with numerous other franchises. In fact, 2023 marks the 40th anniversary of the third movie in the original trilogy: Return of the Jedi. Here are some you may have forgotten and some that could hopefully happen in the future.
Actually Happened:
Soul Calibur/Star Wars:
Most fans already know characters from Star Wars: Darth Vader, Yoda, and Vader’s secret apprentice (from the underrated force unleashed games) appeared in Soul Calibur IV, but did you know there was also a prequel comic to the game explaining their presence in the Soul Calibur universe
Should Happen:
Mortal Kombat/Star Wars:
While a Soul Calibur crossover makes a little more sense given the focus on weapons combat, Mortal Kombat has dabbled in using weapons, and narratively, the two franchises are pretty similar. They both have an evil emperor (Shao Kahn and Palpatine), their powerful right-hand man (Shang Tsung and Darth Vader), a young inexperienced hero(Luke and Liu Kang), a cocky and popular secondary hero (Han and Johnny Cage), a capable and strong female lead who ends up with the cocky secondary hero(Leia and Sonya Blade), two robot buddies (R2 and C3PO and Sektor and Cyrax) and a tall guy who can rip peoples’ arms off (Jax and Chewbacca). Plus, who doesn’t want to see Darth Vader take on Scorpion and/or Sub-zero or even his cyborg counterpart Sektor and Cyrax?
Actually Happened:
Indiana Jones meets Han Solo (sort of):
Given that both franchises involved George Lucas and star Harrison Ford it’s not that surprising that Star Wars and Indiana Jones would intersect. While it has mostly been subtle such as the Obi-wan Club appearing in Temple of Doom, we got more of a direct crossover with the story “Into the Great Unknown” story in the Star Wars Tales #19 comic, which featured Han and Chewie crash landing on Earth and being discovered centuries later by Indiana Jones
Should Happen:
Star Wars/Star Trek
Star Wars and Star Trek is arguably the biggest pop culture rivalry after DC and Marvel, and while DC has crossed over with Marvel a couple of times, we have yet to see a full Star Wars and Star Trek crossover, which is a shame. There have been a few nods or easter eggs, such as the Millennium Falcon appearing in First Contact and Star Trek characters appearing briefly in issue #3 of the Dark Force Rising comic, but so far, no actual official crossover. It would probably be in comic form, although a movie would be fantastic as far as which eras to crossover. I would probably go with Original Trilogy Star Wars crossing over with Original Series Star Trek, although Star Trek does have a history of time travel so that has the potential to bring together all eras of both franchises.
Actually Happened:
ET is a member of the Republic:
This one makes sense as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are good buddies and even created the aforementioned Indiana Jones together, but eagle-eyed viewers of Episode I: The Phantom Menace can spot members of E.T. race among the Galatic Senate
Should Happen:
Star Wars/Terminator:
Maybe if George Lucas were buddies with another director, James Cameron, we would have gotten this crossover as well. Terminator has already crossover over into the previously mentioned Mortal Kombat universe as well as taking on Superman, so it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to see him take on the heroes of a galaxy far, far, away. Seeing the Terminator take on fellow cyborg Darth Vader would be cool, but what about setting a story in the Mandolorian timeline and having him take on Din Djarin, Grogu, and maybe even fellow killer robot IG-88? The possibilities are there.
Those are just a few of the Star Wars crossover that has happened and some that I would want to see. What are some of your favorites, and what universe do you want to see the galaxy far, far away crossover into next?
