The Cloverfield Paradox: All the Easter Eggs, cameos and references to other Cloverfield films

Paradox finally links the series together

Much to everyone’s surprise, immediately following the Super Bowl the streaming service Netflix decided to surprise release the entire third Cloverfield movie The Cloverfield Paradox.

Previously titled God Particle and Cloverfield Station, fans of the JJ Abrams-produced series were quick to devour the movie, which contained many, many Easter Eggs and references to the previous Cloverfield instalments.

So, what were the links between The Cloverfield Paradox, Cloverfield, and 10 Cloverfield Lane? Below, we take a look at some of the biggest, and others you may have missed.

The Monster

Perhaps the most obvious links comes at the movie’s very end. Seen lurking in the shadows midway through the movie, the gigantic monster from the first instalment powers through the clouds to give an almighty roar.

However, whether this is the exact same monster as seen in Cloverfield remains a mystery — Paradox takes place in 2028, exactly 20 years after the first. Throughout the movie, there are no references to a monster being on Earth beforehand, and the people of earth seem shocked that there are monsters (one message the Earthbound character Michael gets sent on his phone reads: “Did the Martians finally figure out a way to get here”). Chances are, this is a different dimension to the one seen in the first movie.

Plus, the first movie's monster was apparently “a baby”, barely taller than Skyscrapers; this one breaks through the clouds. Could this monster be the same, just awakened a few years later in this dimension? There are multiple theories already out there, but no one knows for sure.

The pod

Also during the first Cloverfield, something is seen falling from the sky and landing in the ocean towards the end of the film (to the left of the boat in the above scene). Many suspected this to be shrapnel from outer space. Presumably, that something falling from the sky was part of the Shepard station with Eva (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Schmidt (Daniel Brühl) inside.

Bunkers

Anyone who has watched 10 Cloverfield Lane would have immediately noticed the aesthetic similarities between that movie’s bunker and those seen in Paradox. The leading theory is that the big event in Paradox causes a rippled through space that retroactively affects the dimension of 10 Cloverfield Lane, causing the aliens to land, and so they then enter the bunkers. In Paradox, the bunkers are empty as the big event hadn't happened yet. More on that later.

Cameos

Simon Pegg voices one of the radio news presenters heard at the beginning of the movie, marking yet another collaboration with JJ Abrams after Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Greg Grunberg, who has also appeared in multiple Abrams projects — often as cameos — also provides a vocal cameo, as an off-screen NASA employee.

Perhaps the biggest cameo of all, though, is Suzanne Cryer, who also appears in 10 Cloverfield Lane.

The actor plays a reporter in Paradox — seen interviewing Donal Logue’s conspiracy theorist Mark Stambler — and a woman who attempts to get into the 10 Cloverfield bunker. Whether they are the same character remains unconfirmed.

Talking of Mark Stambler

John Goodman, as you may remember, played the bunker-dwelling conspiracy theorist Howard Stambler — coincidence he and Mark have the same last name? Surely not! A pair of conspiracy theorising brothers is too good not to be true.

Slusho!

Many JJ Abrams projects feature Slusho!, including both previous Cloverfield movies and the new Star Trek trilogy. Paradox is no different; one of the company’s radioactive fictionly slushy drink appears on a bobblehead.

Slusho! has previously played a major part in the discussion surrounding the Cloverfield series. Many fans previously thought the fictional company behind the product, Tagruato, may have accidentally caused the first Cloverfield's monster to awaken from beneath the sea — Godzilla style.

Then, when 10 Cloverfield Lane was released, fans noticed that the company’s website lists the profile of Howard Stambler, who was employee of the month in February 2016. Now, the Tagruato website has been destroyed and features another mystery.

Kelvin Gasoline

At the beginning of the film, another Abrams created fictional company makes an appearance: Kelvin Gasoline, named after the producer’s maternal Grandfather. In 10 Cloverfield Lane, we see an abandoned petrol station of the same name.

The red flash

During 10 Cloverfield, Stambler describes how the blackout began with a “red flash”. When the station goes to full power and transports, the colours change to red — coincidence? Surely not! It seems like that one incident ripped apart the space-time continuum and caused all these events on multiple timelines. What that means for the presumed fourth Cloverfield movie, titled Overlord and set in World War II, is anyone’s guess.

For more on The Cloverfield Paradox, check out our writers Jack Shepherd and Jacob Stolworthy’s podcast ‘The LOST Boys’, in which the pair review and analyse the new Netflix release. Listen here on iTunes.