Mr H Reviews, a respected YouTuber in the Pop Culture sphere, has recently put out a video that talks about J.J. Abrams recent revelations about some Easter Eggs that may or may not have been in the recent addition to the series, The Cloverfield Paradox. Both the video and this post will contain spoilers for the film, and the larger Cloverfield universe. You have been warned!
Howard Stambler's truck in 10 Cloverfield Lane
If you haven't already, I strongly urge you to watch Mr H's video that I've stuck at the top of this post. So the video discusses two things from a recent interview with J.J. Abrams and the director of The Cloverfield Paradox. In it, J.J. Abrams reveals that there were plans to include an easter egg in one scene of the film, which would be Howard Stambler's truck floating in space amongst the debris. Howard Stambler, played by John Goodman, was one of the central figures in 10 Cloverfield Lane. This was disregarded, as audiences felt it would makes things too messy. I don't disagree with that, although an easter egg can be nothing more than a subtle nod from the filmmakers and not necessarily a plot device.
The second, more troubling thing that came from this interview was that both J.J. Abrams and the film's director, Julius Onah, have stated that the Clover monster seen at the very end of the movie as the Space Stations escape pod passes through the clouds, is in fact the same Clover monster from the first film. As Mr H points out in his video, this seems to tear the universe apart at the seams. It also directly contradicts previous statements from J.J. regarding the death of Clover at the end of the first film. Was Clover pulled into the Paradox universe? But then how did he get to the original Cloverfield universe? It brings inconsistency to the series, and really does make it seem like the critics were right about this just being a platform for spec-scripts to get made, which for me at least is a shame.
In a previous post, I discussed the possibility of The Cloverfield Paradox opening up all of J.J. Abrams works to being one giant multiverse. I may have changed my mind on that little fan theory. Mr Abrams has been accused in the past of not really knowing where he's going with his projects. I was a massive fan of Lost back when that was airing, although many fans accused the writers of not having a big picture in their heads and just making it up as they go along. There was supposed proof in the series that they knew what was going on from the beginning in the form of two corpses with a black and white stone each. I don't think it convinced that many people.
Hurley looking at "Adam and Eve" from Lost
So what are your thoughts on this? Does J.J. Abrams and his team know what direction they're taking this film series in? Or are they making it up as they go? Let me know in the comments section, and make sure to follow me for the latest Pop Culture updates, plus other interesting things I find scattered through the web. If you don't already, I strongly recommend you subscribe to Mr H Reviews, he puts out daily videos and they are always so interesting. Peace!
Sources:
Cloverfield Monster IS THE SAME From Cloverfield Paradox by Mr H Reviews ()
605 Lighthouse | Not Confused Just Lost (https://ncjl.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/605-lighthouse/)