In an interesting turn of events, for a series that releases entries at no regular interval and with an anthology style story, the J.J. Abrams-produced Cloverfield series is still a pretty popular point of discussion. With no major source material driving its engine, there’s primarily one factor that can be credited with keeping the party going for this particular franchise: curiosity.
The top card in the deck of Cloverfield’s decade-and-change of intrigue has to be the fact that no one ever truly knows what’s going to happen next. This, of course, leads to a lot of questions hanging in the air around any potential next steps. So while we’re on the subject of Large Scale Aggressors and their potential future, let’s ask some important questions we still have about where Cloverfield is headed. Who knows what we’ll find, or what will find us, in the process?
Are We Still Going To Get A Direct Sequel To Cloverfield?
The last word the public was given on the next potential Cloverfield movie was that a direct sequel to 2008’s Matt Reeves directed origin story was being planned. As far back as the immediate discussions of potential sequels in the wake of that first film’s success, revisiting those particular moments has always been in the cards.
It’s been almost two years since that direct sequel was suggested by J.J. Abrams himself, though, and there hasn’t been any word on whether or not things have moved forward. Normally we’d chalk this up to the usual Cloverfield levels of secrecy and all that, but the question of whether or not we’re going to get that direct sequel to the events of May 22nd, 2008 is still hanging in the air for one huge reason: Abrams and Bad Robot have set up shop at another studio.
Should The Cloverfield Series Move Forward Without J.J. Abrams?
Since it's possible that Paramount owns the rights to Cloverfield and its overall universe, it’s also possible that the exclusive deal that J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot, and WarnerMedia have entered into won’t stop the studio from proceeding with whatever sequels, prequels, and Saturday morning cartoons they choose to make to further brand. But, if necessary, should those in charge of the franchise’s future move forward without Abrams’ potential involvement?
To be honest, it might not change the franchise all that much if J.J. Abrams turns up absent from future Cloverfield movies. In a series with a history of retrofitting other projects into sequels (namely 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox), any movie could technically become a Cloverfield adventure. Without the Abrams touch present, however things could still go either way; especially with the fallout from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker fresh in everyone’s minds.
Will The Cloverfield Franchise Still Be An Anthology?
When 10 Cloverfield Lane finally unveiled all of its secrets to the world, it simultaneously revealed that it really expanded the Cloverfield brand as more of an anthology than a linear story. However, when 2018’s The Cloverfield Paradox picked up the baton, it seemed to be actively trying to tie the three films together with its own big third act twist.
This decision has led to the next important question in the Cloverfield universe: will the series remain an anthology? All signs seem to point to a light “no,” thanks to the aforementioned plans for a direct sequel to the 2008 original. That might not always be the case, though. The beauty of an anthology is that you can always pick up in whatever point in time or story you want to pick up. While that particular approach might not be in play at the moment, it can always be reopened at a moment’s notice.
What Other Creatures Lurk In The Unknown Corners Of The Cloverfield Franchise?
It has to be said that no matter what the Cloverfield franchise has done in terms of its story, there’s always some sort of interesting creature waiting for the world to catch a glimpse of its horrors for the first time. The mystery surrounding Clover, the baby creature from the first film, is what that entire project was sold on; and the final act of 10 Cloverfield Lane revealed that the underground bunker drama about dangerous creatures outside wasn’t just smoke and mirrors.
With so much impressive creature work in the series so far, there’s always anticipation for what’s going to rear its head and potentially massive body next. Just as there’s room for infinite stories in the Cloverfield universe, there’s plenty of opportunity for designers to create something new and horrific for the fourth installment of this series. The fact that there’s no clear answers as to what it may be is both exciting, and terrifying.
Could The Entire Cloverfield Franchise Find A Singular Streaming Home?
This next question comes from a recent revelation, as Cloverfield is leaving Netflix by the end of June, leaving The Cloverfield Paradox alone on the service (10 Cloverfield Lane is now available on Crackle). The absence of the first film points out a pretty big concern, as not all fans of the series own physical copies of the installments.
With streaming acting as the gateway for future audiences to become obsessed with this universe, one might wonder if Cloverfield will eventually find a single streaming home for all three films. It’s certainly a distinct possibility, especially with Paramount’s parent company starting their own proprietary streaming service. All that has to happen is the right amount of money finding its way into Netflix’s hands for The Cloverfield Paradox’s streaming rights, and everyone could be happy and reunited.
Would Cloverfield Be Better Suited As A TV Series?
New streaming services call for new content, and even with all three Cloverfield films in their lineup, Viacom/Paramount will be looking into ways they can leverage previous properties into future endeavors. A new movie would definitely push things along rather well, but with the world of streaming favoring projects that can stretch into an easy TV series, the question of whether or not Cloverfield should expand into such a platform now comes into play.
The typically claustrophobic, single setting/incident approach to the franchise could be greatly amplified into an anthology series. Each season could see a new story/new monster, and a new cast to discover its powers of destruction. Most importantly, this sort of strategy could lead to more organic growth of the Cloverfield brand, rather than just retrofitting a previously existing script into the next gamble of an adventure.
Even though it’s not a property with a regularly scheduled release window, or a consistent plan for what happens next, the Cloverfield anthology is enticing enough that audiences are still talking about it . So it’s not a question of if there will be a next step, but rather when and what that future progression will look like. As long as people are still talking about what’s out there, you can be sure that something will find us again in the future.
For now, you can still see Cloverfield and The Cloverfield Paradox on Netflix, with 10 Cloverfield Lane currently resting its cinematic thrills over on Crackle.
