Steven Spielberg Snuck A Star Wars Easter Egg Into Raiders Of The Lost Ark

It's easy to forget that George Lucas was the original creative force behind the Indiana Jones franchise. His love of early 20th-century adventure film serials led him to "Star Wars" — a response to his inability to secure the actual "Buck Rogers" rights — while 1981's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was conceived from similar inspirations. In fact, Lucas came up with the idea in 1973, four years before "Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope" hit theaters. Even the name "Indiana" was taken from Lucas' dog — the same one who inspired the character of Chewbacca.

After "Star Wars" became a massive success, Lucas didn't have the time or drive to make his swashbuckling archeology story a reality, and he ended up handing the project off to his close friend Steven Spielberg and "The Empire Strikes Back" collaborator Lawrence Kasdan. The result, like "Star Wars," was a huge hit, and while Lucas didn't direct "Raiders," his influence can be felt throughout the film. Primarily, I mean that in terms of the tone and genre stylings, but Spielberg also worked in a hidden Easter egg pointing back to Lucas' space opera magnum opus.

In the scene where Indiana (Harrison Ford) finally reaches the hidden Ark of the Covenant in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the room is covered in ancient hieroglyphics. However, if you zoom in on the right corner of the set, you'll see carved depictions of R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) hiding there.

The hieroglyphic depicts R2 facing straight-on, with C-3PO stands facing him to his right. (See the image above.) On his left, there's a kneeling woman with large sleeves. It's harder to identify as an Easter egg than the two droids, but the woman nonetheless looks very similar to Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) as she appears at the beginning of "A New Hope." The woman's pose also mirrors the one Leia strikes when giving R2 the Death Star plans aboard the Tantive IV.

This isn't the only Star Wars reference in the franchise, either. In 1984's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," the opening sequence in Shanghai finds Indy at a place called Club Obi Wan, referencing the "Star Wars" character Obi-Wan Kenobi. Similarly, in 2008's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," there's another R2 and 3PO carving hidden in the Temple of Akator. It's a callback to the "Raiders" Easter egg that seems particularly relevant, given that "Crystal Skull" also dabbles in alien fiction.

That's without even getting into all of the extraneous media. If you were a kid in the early 2000s (guilty), you couldn't play a "Star Wars" video game without running into an Indiana Jones skin for Han Solo or some sort of hidden level pointing at that other property. These two franchises will always be linked, and that's just the way it should be.

While likely not meant as a direct response to the "Raiders" Easter egg (which took place nearly two decades prior), Lucas did eventually work in his own hidden reference to Spielberg's filmography in 1999's "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace." Indeed, during one of the Galactic Senate scenes in that film, deep in the background of a shot, you can see members of the same alien species that E.T. hails from.

Of course, that Easter egg is more of a response to "E.T." itself rather than "Raiders." In point of fact, there are several "Star Wars" references littered throughout "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," including action figures and Halloween costumes.

This back-and-forth between Lucas and Spielberg ran for many years, with the two friends and legendary filmmakers taking turns leaving nods to each other's work — ones that fans are still having fun discovering today.