Into the Great Unknown was a story from Star Wars Tales 19 and collected in Star Wars Tales Volume 5.
It is the only comic story to combine both Star Wars and Indiana Jones, incorporating two of Harrison Ford's best-known roles: Indiana Jones and Han Solo.
Plot summary[]
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, sometime following the Battle of Endor, Han Solo and Chewbacca are traveling aboard the Millennium Falcon when they are attacked by Imperials. Forced to jump into hyperspace blind, they crash on a planet in a solar system unfamiliar to them.
After Han comments on the Endor-like terrain due to the large trees, they venture out to investigate, but Han is killed by the natives. The mourning Chewbacca leaves the Falcon to live in the forest, where the inhabitants take to calling him "Sasquatch".
126 years later, Indiana Jones and Short Round are in the Pacific Northwest searching for a creature said to roam those parts when they discover the wreckage of a craft beyond even that of Atlantis and the remains of its pilot. Indy, spooked by the familiarity of the human skeleton, decides to leave the find in peace. Outside, observing from a distant tree, Chewbacca watches over the site.
Appearances[]
Characters[]
- Chewbacca / Sasquatch
- Indiana Jones
- Short Round
- Han Solo
- Han Solo's children (Mentioned only)
- Indiana Jones' guide
Cultures[]
Locations[]
- Earth
- Atlantis (Mentioned only)
- North America
- Endor (Mentioned only)
- Hovan 99 (Mentioned only)
- Mars
- Moon
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Sun
Vehicles and vessels[]
- Millennium Falcon
- Star Destroyer
- TIE fighter
Weapons and equipment[]
- Blaster
- Bowcaster
- Bow and arrow
- Deflector shield (Mentioned only)
- Hyperspace
- Navi-computer (Mentioned only)
- Repulsor (Mentioned only)
- Spear
Behind the scenes[]
Development[]
With the freedom of telling apocryphal Star Wars stories through their Star Wars Tales monthly comic book series, Dark Horse Comics' staff began tossing around the idea of telling a crossover story with the Indiana Jones franchise starring Han Solo and Indiana Jones, both Lucasfilm Ltd. characters from the 1970s and 1980s portrayed by Harrison Ford.[1] Indiana Jones had previously made a cameo appearance as an easter egg in the LucasArts computer game Star Wars: Yoda Stories, where he encounters Luke Skywalker who acknowledges his similarities to Solo, but otherwise Jones and Solo don't come across each other.[2] Eventually, Dark Horse approached and contracted author W. Haden Blackman to write such crossover.[1]
While conceiving the story's plot, Blackman recalled some stories involving Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, during the filming of the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. The stories claimed that Mayhew was required to be accompanied by crewmembers who wore brightly-colored vests while in the Northern California forests where Forest Moon of Endor scenes were filmed, so as not to be mistaken for Bigfoot and shot. Working from there, Blackman crafted a story that involved Han Solo and Chewbacca landing on Earth in the Pacific Northwest, Han dying, and Chewbacca being mistaken for Bigfoot while roaming the forests in the proceeding years. Taking the long life spans of Wookiees into account, he decided to have Indy discover Han's remains over 100 years later.[1]
Back when he worked for Dark Horse, Karl Kesel had a rejected idea for an Indiana Jones adventure in which the titular archaeologist met a mysterious woman who is trying to access a secret passage by translating an inscription carved into the rock which indicates that something happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, resulting in Indy helping to open a door which reveals the Millennium Falcon to be inside with C-3PO aboard, who tells Jones that he reminded him to Solo. Upon learning about his concept's similarities to "Into the Great Unknown" in 2018 through his IndyCast guest appearance, Kesel acknowledged that he had spoken about his pitch to representatives of both Dark Horse and Lucasfilm Ltd., so he wondered if someone remembered his earlier proposal.[3]
Continuity[]
Harrison Ford gained fame for playing both Han Solo and Indiana Jones.
Into the Great Unknown is neither a part of the Indiana Jones canon nor the Star Wars canon. The title itself is a reference to Wu Han's dying words to Indiana Jones after being shot by Chen at Club Obi Wan in the opening sequence of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Indy's mention of Atlantis implies that the story takes place after the game Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, set in 1939, while Han's mention of the Forest Moon of Endor suggests the story takes place after Return of the Jedi (which takes place in 4 ABY, with a further reference to Han having children, an occurrence in the Star Wars Expanded Universe media set after the aforementioned film, with Solo's eldest children being born in 9 ABY). Such a timeframe would place the events of the Star Wars saga as occuring around the 1800s. In answering a fan question on Twitter about the timing of the story, Blackman replied that no exact date was given because it was just a story for the non-canonical Star Wars Infinities comic book label but added that in the timeframe of Indiana Jones, the story has to happen seven or eight years after Temple of Doom, setting it around 1942/1943 (which in turn would set the story in the Star Wars timeline around 1816/1817).[4]
Some fans have speculated that the story suggests that Indiana Jones is Han Solo reincarnated, though Blackman has subsequently stated that that was not his intent.[4]
Reception[]
- "The lost Indiana Jones–Star Wars crossover was really depressing."
- ―Cyriaque Lamar of io9.com[src]
"Into the Great Unknown" has received significant attention because of its status as an story merging the franchises of Indiana Jones and Star Wars. In 2008, W. Haden Blackman told Frank DiaGacomo from Vanity Fair that he considers "Into the Great Unknown" one of the most fun Star Wars stories he had ever written.[1] In 2011, Cyriaque Lamar from io9 wrote an article about the story, highlighting its depressing nature in his opinion.[5] Despite the reputation of "Into the Great Unknown" as the first officially-licensed work by Lucasfilm Ltd. to include both of Harrison Ford's most iconic roles, Blackman is unaware whether George Lucas knows about the story's existence or not.[1]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Frank DiGiacomo: Indiana Jones, Meet Han Solo at Vanity Fair (Web archive)
- ↑ Star Wars: Yoda Stories
- ↑ IndyCast: Episode 267 at IndyCast
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 @HadenBlackman Haden Blackman on Twitter
- ↑ The lost Indiana Jones-Star Wars crossover was really depressing at io9 (Web archive)
External links[]
Indy Cameo in Star Wars Tales on IndianaJones.com (backup link on Archive.org)
Into the Great Unknown on Wookieepedia- Frank DiGiacomo: Indiana Jones, Meet Han Solo at VanityFair.com
