Cloverfield was once poised to be a promising horror movie franchise — the only way to save it now is with a direct sequel. The two movies that followed the 2008 sleeper hit were retrofitted to work into the existing universe. It was a creative idea, but never provided the closure that Cloverfield fans have been seeking for more than a decade now.
Cloverfield follows a group of New Yorkers trying to survive the night as a monster rises out of the ocean and starts wreaking havoc on the city. By invoking both the found footage genre and producer J.J. Abrams' patented "mystery box" style of filmmaking, the movie became a surprise hit. Following the its success, Abrams and his production company, Bad Robot, acquired two movies, deciding they fit in with the feel of the greater Cloverfield universe, then tweaked them to become Cloverfield movies. Those films became 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox, respectively.
This approach brought a mixed bag of success. 10 Cloverfield Lane worked best as a standalone movie, but its successor did not. This puts the franchise in a precarious place — another failed movie, and it's all over. The only way to redeem the franchise now is with a direct sequel to Cloverfield — here's why.
The first movie in the Cloverfield franchise offered more questions than answers, such as the origins of the monster, the company that inadvertently released it, and the aftermath of the attack. However, the Cloverfield franchise has become well-known for making its fans work for the few answers it provides. A true franchise should build out the universe established in the very first film, but that never happened within this series. 10 Cloverfield Lane just offered a few sly winks toward its predecessor, and The Cloverfield Paradox offered clunky and confusing answers that never really made sense in the grander scheme of things. Therefore, the only way to save the franchise is to provide a straight sequel with true answers and an honest continuation of the story.
Offering more information on the elements of the original movie that initially captured fans' attention is the best route to take with the next movie. Some mysteries should continue to remain a mystery, but there's still more story to be told. The right way to go is to explore how the world, and whatever is left of New York, has continued on after knowing monsters exist. Reworking movies to fit into the universe was a fun gimmick while it lasted, but wasn't enough to build a substantial story.
Another retrofitted movie is bound to completely lose whatever integrity is left of the Cloverfield franchise — returning full circle to the original would not only satisfy fans, but would achieve a more streamlined continuation where other sequels made the timeline murky. That said, if a true Cloverfield sequel is simply not in the cards, it's time to close the book on this series once and for all.
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