When Luke Skywalker and Han Solo escort Chewbacca to the prison cells in “Star Wars,” Luke says the Wookie is a prisoner transfer from cell block 1138, a reference to director George Lucas’s first film, “THX 1138.”

George Lucas cut a scene from his first film, “THX 1138,” in which the lead character falls into a garbage compactor and fights a mutated rodent, because the creature didn’t look realistic. The situation was recycled in “Star Wars.”

When Superman made his debut in Action Comics in 1938 he didn’t live in Metropolis — his stomping grounds were in New York City.

Kurt Russell, Nick Nolte, Christopher Walken, Al Pacino, and Perry King were among the candidates for the role of Han Solo.

George Lucas originally wanted to make an updated movie of Flash Gordon. However, the director couldn’t secure the rights to the property, which were held by Dino De Laurentiis. Instead, Lucas decided to create his own science fiction project, which, of course, became “Star Wars.” De Laurentiis went on to produce a campy version of Flash Gordon in 1980.

According to David Alexander in a biography of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, the Klingon were named for Lieutenant Wilbur Clingan, who served with Roddenberry in the Los Angeles Police Department.

George Lucas named the “Star Wars” planet Tatooine after the movie’s desert location, Tataouine (French spelling), in Tunisia.

Batman creator Bob Kane also created the Batman parody “Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse,” a cartoon series that originally aired in the 1960s.

Doctor Who travels time and space in a TARDIS (which stands for Time and Relative Dimensions In Space).

“Doctor Who” originally ran for 26 seasons on the BBC (1963-1989). If you wanted to watch every episode of the series, including the current BBC version and specials, it would take you almost 13 days.

It would take you 22 days, 8 hours, and 33 minutes to watch every work in the “Star Trek” canon — that’s five TV series and 10 movies. The 1973-74 animated series would add another 8 hours and 4 minutes to your viewing pleasure.

You can watch the entire “Star Wars” canon in 1 day, 15 hours, and 30 minutes — but that includes the ’70s Holiday Special, two Ewok TV movies, and the Ewok animated series. Yeck!

Every geek knows Ted Knight narrated the “Super Friends” (his most memorable line: “Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice”). But his voice work reached back even further. His distinct voice can be heard on the animated “Star Trek” series, “Scooby-Doo Meets the Harlem Globetrotters,” “The Batman / Superman Hour,” “The Superman / Aquaman Hour of Adventure,” “Aquaman,” and “The New Adventures of Superman.”

Wonder Woman co-creator William Moulton Marston also created the systolic blood-pressure test, which led to the creation of the polygraph (lie detector).

Godzilla’s Japanese name, Gojiru, is a combination of the Japanese words for gorilla and whale.

Godzilla isn’t green — he’s actually charcoal grey.

All of Raymond Burr’s scenes in the U.S. version of “Godzilla” were added after the original Japanese film was finished.

In “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” Raymond Burr played a reporter named Steve Martin. The Wild and Crazy Guy was 10 years old at the time.

In Lex Luthor’s first appearance (“Action Comics” #23), the super villain had a full head of red hair. Luthor was portrayed as a bald-headed baddie a year later.

“Friday the 13th” psycho Jason Vorhees didn’t start wearing a hockey mask until the third film in the horror franchise.

“Friday the 13th” psycho Jason Vorhees was born on June 13, 1946 — which means he’s nearing retirement age.

Jar Jar Binks was supposedly inspired and named by George Lucas’s youngest daughter — let’s hope she never grows up to make movies.

The initials in DC Comics stand for Detective Comics.

Comic book pioneers Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster originally sold their rights to Superman for a reported $130.

Johnny Depp made his film debut in 1984’s “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

Tim Burton’s first job out of college was as an animator for Disney. He worked on such classic movies as “The Fox and the Hound” and “The Black Cauldron.”

Disney refused to release Tim Burton’s short film “Frankenweenie” because it wasn’t suited for family viewing. After Burton hit it big, Disney released an edited version of the film.

Warren Beatty was originally offered the role of Bill in Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill.” Beatty suggested David Carradine for the role.

Uma Thurman’s yellow track-suit in “Kill Bill” was styled after Bruce Lee’s outfit in “The Game of Death.”

Gary Larson created 4,337 “Far Side” cartoons. The one-panel comic ran from January 1, 1980 to January 1, 1995.

The casting department of the ’70s TV show “The Incredible Hulk” wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the big, green lug, but producers thought Ah-nold was too short.

Clark Kent originally worked for a newspaper named the Daily Star.