Spoiler Alert
A warning for all of you who haven’t watched the Cloverfield movies (You really should), this post will contain spoilers.
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How Do The Cloverfield Movies Connect?
What is the Cloverfield timeline? Do the Cloverfield movies even connect? The short answer is yes and no.
These movies do connect, but not in the way that you may think. This series is not going to give you the clean linear connection that the Prometheus and Alien movies provide. First, you have to understand that the events of 10 Cloverfield Lane did not happen immediately following Cloverfield. They didn’t even happen in the same Cloverfield world. I know this is sounding crazy but stick with me. We’ll get it all sorted out soon enough.
Surprisingly, 10 Cloverfield Lane wasn’t even going to be a part of the Cloverfield franchise originally! The movie was first called The Cellar. This changed, however, in the last few months when the promotion for the movie started. Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield lane do take place in separate timelines. However, this does not mean that they don’t connect. So, how do these movies connect then?
Well, the most recent installment to the Cloverfield franchise, The Cloverfield Paradox, may hold the answers that we’ve been looking for. Cloverfield Paradox sets the precedence for the existence of multiple universes in the Cloverfield world. These universes have different timelines and events that are unique to each one of them.
The First Cloverfield
In the original Cloverfield which takes place on May 22, 2008, we follow the story of Robert who is celebrating his last day in New York City before moving to Japan for a new job. While Robert and his friends are enjoying a big party, all hell breaks loose as a huge alien monster begins terrorizing and destroying the city of New York. Fighting for their lives, Rob and his friends must find a
10 Cloverfield Lane
The events in 10 Cloverfield Lane take place in 2016. In this movie, you follow the story of Michelle. During the first scenes of the movie Michelle gets into a car crash. A man named Howard ends up saving Michelle.
Howard takes her to his underground bunker to nurse her back to health. Long story short… Michelle ends up having to escape the bunker and when she reaches the outside world she finds that aliens are currently invading Earth. Michelle takes down an alien with nothing but a Molotov cocktail and the movie ends with her driving off to join up with a group of survivors.
Other than Earth
The Answer Cloverfield Paradox Gives Us
The latest movie, Cloverfield Paradox, takes place all the way in 2028! At the beginning of the movie, there is an interview with an author broadcasting on the news. If you look at the woman performing the interview it is the same woman that played the girl begging to get into the bunker in 10 Cloverfield Lane! Weird, right!?
Mark Stambler is the name of the man she is interviewing. You may recognize that name because the name of the man who owns the Bunker in 10 Cloverfield Lane is Howard Stambler. So, Mark could very well be related to Howard.
The Interview
During the interview, Mark Stambler goes into detail about how a failed particle accelerator experiment was the cause of absolute chaos. He states that it could release monsters, demons, and beasts from the sea! Could this be the same beast that came out of the sea in the original Cloverfield movie? Well, let’s find out.
What Happens In The Cloverfield Paradox
So, what exactly happens in this Cloverfield world? In this world, Earth is suffering an energy crisis that is causing worldwide blackouts and fueling military tensions between nations. In an attempt to solve the energy crisis, an international experiment takes place on board the Cloverfield space station.
The Experiment
On the space station, a group of scientists from multiple countries are on a mission to create limitless and renewable energy by using a particle accelerator. The experiment takes a bad turn and ends up ripping a hole through spacetime itself, transporting everyone into an alternate reality where they have lost sight of the Earth while simultaneously ripping holes in other realities. This consequently changes those Earths’ realities and allows for giant monsters and aliens to invade and roam the Earth. The surviving crew members return to their reality in the final shot of the movie.
How are the monsters related if the events are 20 years apart!? Well, if you go back to Mark Stambler’s interview he states that ripples in space and time don’t just affect the present, they also affect the past and the future! So, there are a few different possibilities here but the most logical is that we have been viewing 3 different Earths in 3 different alternate universes. The accelerator could have sent a monster to the present Earth in 2028, while also sending one to a different Earth in another timeline in 2008. In 10 Cloverfield Lane, the accelerator also sends aliens to the third Earth.
The Conclusion For The Cloverfield Movies Timeline
There are many other theories out there and either one could be correct. These movies offer unlimited potential because the Cloverfield universe is so different and robust. The idea of infinite universes in the multiverse allows directors to make their own treacherous worlds. So, in essence, The Cloverfield Paradox is the cause of everything happening in the other Cloverfield movies.
This doesn’t mean that you have to watch the movies in any particular order though. You can watch them in any order you would like because they are based on completely different realities. This is honestly one of our favorite movie series here at EndlessPopcorn, and if you haven’t watched all the Cloverfield movies yet, then we highly recommend you do.
1. The Cloverfield Paradox
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The Earth is suffering an energy crisis that is causing worldwide blackouts and fueling military tensions between nations. An international effort to solve the crisis results in an experiment that takes place on board of the Cloverfield space station. On the space station, a group of scientists from multiple countries are on a mission to create limitless and renewable energy by using a particle accelerator. Can they do it? Or will they bring total chaos to the entire multiverse?
2. Cloverfield
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On May 22, 2008, we follow the story of Robert (Michael Stahl-David) who is celebrating his last day in New York City before moving to Japan for a new job. He and his friends throw a big party but during the celebration, all hell breaks loose as a huge alien monster begins terrorizing and destroying the city of New York. Now, Rob and a few of his friends have to fight for their survival. Will they survive?
3. 10 Cloverfield Lane
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Where To Watch
Involved in a car accident that renders her unconscious, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up and finds herself locked in a bunker with two men. Howard (John Goodman), the owner of the bunker, tells Michelle that he has brought her to the bunker to save her. Michelle learns from Howard that after a nuclear or chemical fallout, the air has become contaminated and is now unbreathable. Regardless of the
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