Spielberg's forgotten E.T. sequel is officially canon — but should it be?

On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, host Joshua Horowitz asked Steven Spielberg, “Did Elliott ever see E.T. again?” Spielberg replied “No,” adding that Elliott only dreamed about E.T. through a psychic connection. That answer sits uneasily beside an officially sanctioned 1985 sequel novel, E.T.: The Book of the Green Planet by William Kotzwinkle.

The book picks up after the film, following E.T. back to his home world, Brodo Asogi, known as the Green Planet. There he is questioned about Earth, stripped of his job as a plant biologist and demoted to a farmer. Much of the plot follows E.T. spying on an older Elliott and scheming to return to him, including plans to steal a spaceship.

Kotzwinkle expands the alien world: E.T.’s species are called Asogians and share their planet with other intelligent beings, and the environment is full of useful, animated flora — homes grown from giant squash and hyperintelligent plants that can speak. E.T.

e.t, steven spielberg, william kotzwinkle, green planet, brodo asogi, asogians, elliott, sequel novel, psychic connection, plant biologist