Has the Cloverfield monster returned? That’s the question we must all now ask as the site associated with the 2008 found footage monster movie, Slusho.com, has suddenly come back online. While this is currently all the information we have at hand, it will no doubt remind fans of Cloverfield of the mystery that surrounded the franchise’s first outing, and has us all wondering if more monster mash destruction is imminent.
For those who need their memory jogged, the Slusho! Drinks are an in-universe beverage which uses “the Seabed’s Nectar,” giving the iced drink “a highly addictive quality.” While Slusho does not have any overt appearance in Cloverfield, it’s teased that the use of this nectar, which was “discovered on the deep ocean floor, under amazing pressure and extreme cold” has something to do with the awakening of the monster. “Slusho! makes my stomach explode with happiness!” states the ad, which should remind audiences of the bloody and brutal ways in which the parasites attached to the monster are born…
While it has now been confirmed that the Cloverfield monster arrived on Earth via a meteor, it has long been theorized that the beast lay dormant at the bottom of the ocean. Until the Slusho corporation went digging for its precious nectar, disturbing this particular kaiju and leading to its rampage. Now, with Slusho back online, have they decided to go digging again?
The fourth installment in the Cloverfield franchise comes following the first Cloverfield back in 2008, 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016, and The Cloverfield Paradox in 2018. While each of these movies have been largely standalone, more anthology stories than sequels, it is expected that the next Cloverfield outing will be more of a straight-forward Cloverfield 2, following on directly from the events of Reeves’ first movie. However, unlike its predecessor, it will not be filmed in found-footage format.
News of another adventure set in the world of Cloverfield first broke back in January 2021. Under the Shadow and I Came By’s Babak Anvari is now attached as director and will work from a script written by The Lazarus Project and The Ritual’s Joe Barton.
As per the prior installments, details of Cloverfield 4 largely remain a mystery. Cloverfield director Matt Reeves though has confirmed that a fourth movie is in development, and that it will likely deal with real-world anxieties. “I have no idea. I’m super excited about us doing more, and I can’t give you information about that of course because that’s the way Cloverfield works,” Reeves said regarding the sequel. “To be honest with you, you never know what you’re going to do. Even though my work is all genre work, I have to feel something personal about it. Cloverfield is very much about my anxieties.”
These anxieties could land very close to home, with Reeves going to tease that Cloverfield 4 could involve contagion and “the uncertainty of what you can’t see and the idea that being next to someone, you could catch something.”
Cloverfield 4 does not yet have a release date.
