The Cloverfield Meta Universe has a subtle way of revealing itself through a variety of franchises, securing it's own tells and traces within the cinematic world. Scattered throughout creator J.J Abrams's filmography are consistent motifs that exist solely to tell the audience where they are, and whose world they are in.
So far the Cloverfield franchise itself consists of the found footage horror film Cloverfield and it's two successors, The Cloverfield Paradox. With producer J.J Abrams and his company Bad Robot attached to all three films they have taken on an almost umbrella role, underneath which can be found clues and connections to Abrams's past work, even those seemingly unrelated to the Cloverfield franchise.
While the three films of the franchise undoubtedly pay homage to one another through shared themes of unknowable horror and unworldly creatures, they also relate in a much more tangible way. The viral marketing campaigns concocted for the franchise were tied together through mentions of Tagruato, a fictitious Japanese mining company that appears in all three films and Slusho! a soft-drink company owned by Tagruato. Through well placed Easter eggs, Abrams accentuates the company's looming presence over the franchise and secures each new project's place within his universe.
Franchises Set In The Cloverfield Meta Universe
In Cloverfield a group of friends gather for a goodbye party as one of them is preparing to leave New York City for a new job in Japan, specifically with Tagrauto. In the franchise's second film it is revealed that Howard Stambler, the antagonist of 10 Cloverfield Lane, was once an employee of the company, directly linking the film to its predecessor. These tropes also appear in The Cloverfield Paradox in the form of a Slusho! bobble head decorating a control console and the Tagruato logo which can be spotted on multiple pieces of equipment aboard the orbiting Cloverfield Station. Through well placed Easter eggs Abrams accentuates the company's looming presence over the franchise and secures each new project's place within his universe.
Though Cloverfield kicked off the franchise when it hit theaters in 2008, the cinematic universe it exists in was created years prior. Audiences were first introduced to the Slusho! drink in Abrams's Lost, and while that theory has since been disproven, the show is specifically referenced in the very first seconds of Cloverfield.
Right as the film starts, a Dharma logo can be seen in the corner of the recovered camcorder footage through which the entire narrative plays out. Fans of Lost will recognize The Dharma Initiative as the scientific research project that took place on the notorious island. Specializing in fields like meteorology, psychology, and zoology Dharma's research caused many of the bizarre occurrences that baffled the stranded survivors. While the future of the Cloverfield franchise is hazy it feels certain that J.J Abrams will continue to connect his projects through his roster of Bad Robot motifs. Weaving intricate webs through his universe, Abrams knows how to leave his mark wherever he goes.
