SPOILERS: How THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX Ties To The Other Movies And Sets Up The Franchise's Future

SPOILERS: How THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX Ties To The Other Movies And Sets Up The Franchise's Future

Hours after the first trailer debuted during the Super Bowl, The Cloverfield Paradox was released on Netflix. The movie is being hammered by critics but what does it tell us about the previous instalments?

Feature Opinion
By JoshWilding - Feb 05, 2018 08:02 AM EST
Filed Under: Sci-Fi
Cloverfield was an unexpected hit back in 2008 and that world was expanded in non-sequel (and the very different) 10 Cloverfield Lane. Since then, we've heard that a third instalment was in the works called God Particle and that was unveiled last night in the form of a Super Bowl trailer which revealed that it's actually titled The Cloverfield Paradox. Hours later, it then premiered worldwide on Netflix. 

Before it was released, it was said that the movie would finally answer some long-standing questions about the franchise and this third instalment definitely delivered...well, to some extent anyway!

Critics are currently panning the film - it has 14% on Rotten Tomatoes - and while that could have something to do with the fact they're upset about not being treated to an early screening and the sort of preferential treatment they're used to getting, it definitely has some issues and never quite takes full advantage of its premise. Here, though, you'll find a breakdown of all the movie's biggest reveals.

The Multiverse Theory



The Cloverfield Paradox appears to suggest that each of the films take place in alternate timelines. However, the space crew we follow here are seemingly the ones responsible for creating the rift in space and time which brings those aliens to our world (and the many variations of it). Their ship is kitted out with a particle accelerator which they hope to use to solve Earth's energy crisis but an author of a book called "The Cloverfield Paradox" explains what sort of ill effects that could have. 

"That accelerator is 1000 times more powerful than any ever built," he explains during a televised interview. "Every time they test it, they risk ripping open the membrane of space-time, smashing together multiple dimensions, shattering reality, and not just on that station – everywhere. This experiment could unleash chaos, the likes of which we have never seen. Monsters, demons, beasts from the sea… And not just here and now… In the past. In the future. In other dimensions."

As it turns out, his theory is correct and things then get weird but we also get some big reveals. 
 

Exploring Another Universe(s)



The crew of the Shepard soon figure out that they've been transported to another universe, one where Ava's children aren't dead and where World War III has ravaged the Earth. After some very strange goings on (like someone losing an arm and it then wandering around by itself and writing the crew a message), they're able to return home but that world has now been ravaged by massive monsters even larger than the one we saw in Cloverfield because they inadvertently opened that rift.

The question is, if Earth was attacked by a monster in 2008, why does no one seem to remember that when the same thing happens in 2028? Well, that's because it took place on another planet where a monster rose from the sea after crashing to Earth and promptly laid waste to New York City. 

Where does leave 10 Cloverfield Lane? In that world, aliens come from UFOs, so that once again points to it being a third Earth (and one set around eight years after the events of the first Cloverfield given the technology we see but not a world which ever suffered from that attack on the Big Apple).
 

How It All Ties Together



It now appears as if the past and future Cloverfield movies will be a result of the events of this film. As the author we mentioned above notes, the particle accelerator is capable of ripping space-time apart and smashing together multiple dimensions in the past present, and future. That explains why those monsters - which have been unleashed from another world similar to what happens in Pacific Rim - are showing up at different times in varying forms. So, where does this leave the future of the series?

Well, it's now able to go to any place and time and feature any monster (or monsters) the filmmakers fancy. For example, the next film will be set during World War II and will feature a group of soldiers coming across some Nazi experiments which are supernatural in nature. Those have to be related to the Cloverfield Paradox and with these movies all taking place in different universes, no one will have to worry about making them all tie together in the ways we mentioned earlier on in this post. 

So, we may not have had the answers we wanted but The Cloverfield Paradox definitely offers an explanation of sorts for why these movies have played out this way even if it is a tad overcomplicated. 

What did you guys think of the movie? As always, let us know your thoughts down below.

Donald Sutherland, Star Of THE HUNGER GAMES, DON'T LOOK NOW & KELLY'S HEROES, Passes Away Aged 88
Related:

Donald Sutherland, Star Of THE HUNGER GAMES, DON'T LOOK NOW & KELLY'S HEROES, Passes Away Aged 88
MEGALOPOLIS: Lionsgate To Distribute Francis Ford Coppola's Divisive Sci-Fi Epic In The U.S.
Recommended For You:

MEGALOPOLIS: Lionsgate To Distribute Francis Ford Coppola's Divisive Sci-Fi Epic In The U.S.
DISCLAIMER: ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and... [MORE]

ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

Do you have what it takes to write for us?
Want to contribute?
1 2 3
SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 2/5/2018, 8:13 AM
The problem with the "Cloverfield" concept is it's execution. After 10 Cloverfield Lane the general audience was upset but began to accept the franchise as an Anthology. Now with Paradox the film billed itself as a sequel to the first film. But when you watch the movie it feels standalone as well.

So the films are just a confusing mess with the continuity. I get they are set on alternate earths but making it where an experiment goes wrong and warps beasts and aliens into alternate realities makes it feel like the production company are forcing the first film to be canon to the second and vice versa.
Vigor
Vigor - 2/5/2018, 8:29 AM
@SonOfAGif - I struggle to understand why you guys are confused. Multiple universes. Literally explains everything
orb2
orb2 - 2/5/2018, 8:16 AM
But, what about the satellite, or space debris that crashes into the sea at the end of Cloverfield that was supposed to have brought the monster to New York. One could assume that this was part of the Shepard, so it would mean there's not only multiple dimensions but also a rift in time. I'm trying too hard to justify this movie and it's links... damnit. It's like Lost all over again
Armageddon26
Armageddon26 - 2/5/2018, 9:25 AM
@orb2 - The theory I saw was that the monster was sent far back in time on that earth and that an unrelated satellite caused that monster to wake up in 2008 of that Earth. Don't think it was intended to be part of the Shepard, though I hoped that was where they were going with it
SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 2/5/2018, 9:59 AM
@Armageddon26 - I think the biggest mistake was the producers making 10 Cloverfield Lane act as a standalone film rather than a sequel.

Instead of Aliens it should have been Clovie destroying the surface. Have the film take place in rural New Jersey and have it take place parallel to the first film with Mary Elizabeth's character getting into the accident the night the monster awakens and being held captive during it's rampage.
KnifeWasTooSlow
KnifeWasTooSlow - 2/5/2018, 10:04 AM
@orb2 - What if the satellite that wakes the original monster was the part of the station with David Oyelowo?
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 2/5/2018, 10:15 AM
@orb2 - well that was just a theory it was never confirmed whether it was a satellite or the monster itself. The majority of theories I saw at the time the original came out was that it was actually an egg considering the original Clover was an infant
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 2/5/2018, 10:16 AM
@orb2 - also considering that the two Cloverfield stations seemingly collided across time the wreckage of the second universes station could have ended up in the main universe as the debris we saw in the first movie
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 2/5/2018, 10:18 AM
@SonOfAGif - I agree, the alien ending really ruined that movie for me (I think it would have been better if Goodman was just lying the whole time Kimmy Schmidt style) but if it had been Clover and his mom running around I would have loved that
orb2
orb2 - 2/6/2018, 2:18 AM
@Ha1frican - What I've read on other sites, is that the ARG states that it is a Japanese satellite which has nothing to do with the Cloverfield Stations. If so, they missed a golden opportunity to tie everything together!
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 2/6/2018, 7:39 AM
@orb2 - yeah I just went back and watched the blu-ray with the investigative mode on that adds in all the arg stuff and it seems pretty clear there’s no way any of this caused the events of Cloverfield. At most the Shepherd places the monsters dormant at the bottom of the ocean a long time ago but they are definitely separate universes because of the timelines and the evidence presented as to what woke up Clover either being the Hastui satellite or the T.I.D.O Wave sabotage of Bold Futura’s deep see excavation operation which was them mining the monster for Seabed’s nectar. My bet is that the Shepherd just brought the Clovers over from the first Cloverfield to the Cloverfield Theory Universe
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 2/6/2018, 7:43 AM
@orb2 - I thought that to but we know the name of the satellite and pretty much everything about what led to Clover leaving the ocean from the ARG and Blu-ray. I think the Shepherd just brought the clovers over from the original timeline and possibly planted them in the Atlantic as dormant a long time ago but by the cannon of the first movie there’s really no way they take place in the same universe or that what happened in Theory caused the first movie
Magus
Magus - 2/5/2018, 8:16 AM
I thought it was pretty good. Very CERN-Mandela Effect themed. This could have happened in real life and we wouldn’t know.
xfan320
xfan320 - 2/5/2018, 8:22 AM
It was a good movie, but I want a TRUE Cloverfield movie that addresses the monsters straight up and with no "big twist".

I like that we have an idea now of what's happening, but what about Tagruato? TIDO wave? Slusho? Where do these beasts come from? Is there a home planet? Does anything actually connect to the ARG stuff??
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 2/5/2018, 1:30 PM
@xfan320 - I think after watching all the investigative mode stuff that all of that stuff in the ARG and original Lcoberfield was its own universe that maybe is slightly linked to “Theory” in that maybe the Shepherd is why the monsters in the original were in the ocean like maybe it bridged universes and brought them there, but that mainly the monsters were brought from original Cloverfield to Theory because of the Shepherd so they are still separate universes
HeavyMetal4Life
HeavyMetal4Life - 2/5/2018, 8:22 AM
Solid film, good scifi space thriller. Not great, could have been better, but I enjoyed it and it had me watching to try to figure out what was going on. I can see though why they didn't release this in the theaters. 8/10
1 2 3
Related Headlines
Latest Headlines

Hot Headlines Hot Headlines

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Cartoons & Animated Features

Gaming

Anime & Manga

Horror

Action Movies & TV

Pro Wrestling & MMA News
View Recorder