Steven Spielberg Confirms Whether Elliot Ever Reunited With E.T. In New Canon Detail

Nearly 45 years after E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was released, director Steven Spielberg has cleared up whether the title alien and his human friend Elliot ever reunited.

In 1982, Spielberg followed up Raiders of the Lost Ark from the year prior with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which still ranks as one of the best science fiction movies. The movie’s emotional ending saw the 10-year-old Elliot, played by Henry Thomas, bidding goodbye to E.T. as he left Earth and traveled back to his homeworld. For those who wondered if these two ever crossed paths again, the filmmaker has officially provided the canon answer.

While appearing on Happy, Sad, Confused with Emily Bunt and Josh O’Connor, two of the actors in his new movie Disclosure Day, Spielberg revealed that Elliot “never saw” E.T. again, but only in a physical sense. The two characters continued to share a “psychic link” with each other, with the director explaining:

Never saw him again. But he did dream about him. So there was the psychic link between the two of them. If you notice that ET touched Elliot right here and said, “I’ll be right here.” That was for the rest of Elliot’s life.

So, that puts the matter to rest as far as the official E.T. continuity goes. However, there is an alternate scenario that was presented over half a decade ago. On November 28, 2019, an E.T.-themed XFinity commercial aired during the 93rd Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The four-minute commercial saw the alien visiting Elliot, reprised by Thomas, and his family during the Christmas season, and was peppered with numerous references to the original movie.

Though Comcast consulted Spielberg before the commercial was made, for those who are invested in the E.T. universe, think of it as taking place in a different reality. From Spielberg’s perspective, there was no reunion following the ending of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. It’s heartbreaking to a degree, but at least the filmmaker added that the mental bond between E.T. and Elliot remained intact, so they were still able to see each other through the latter’s dreams.

That’s not to say this was always the case, though. Spielberg and screenwriter Melissa Mathison wrote an E.T. sequel following the original movie, earning critical acclaim and impressing at the box office. However, Spielberg ultimately decided against making another E.T. movie, saying that it “would do nothing but rob the original of its virginity.” In January 2025, the director described getting the E.T. sequel scrapped as a “real hard-fought victory,” adding that the general concept of showing E.T.’s homeworld would have worked better as a book called The Green Planet.

Despite all that, E.T.’s species got one last chance to shine in a cinematic setting thanks to Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Several of these aliens were shown as background characters during a scene set inside the Republic Senate chambers. Though E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial remains an official one-off story, moviegoers can see Spielberg’s latest exploration of life from other worlds through Disclosure Day, which debuts in theaters this weekend.