Cloverfield: Hud Was Supposed To Survive (Why He Didn’t)

In the 2008 American monster film Cloverfield, the character Hud (T.J. Miller) was originally meant to survive. J.J. Abrams, who produced the movie, had his reasons for deciding to kill off the character, whose role was that of cameraman and comedian. Directed by Matt Reeves and written by Drew Goddard, Cloverfield is shot in a found footage style. The film centers on five young New Yorkers who are trying to survive an attack by a giant alien monster and small parasitic creatures. The 2008 film was only the first installment of the Cloverfield franchise; it was followed by 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016 and The Cloverfield Paradox in 2018.

The original film is presented as found footage from a personal video camera, recovered by the U.S. Department of Defense. The movie starts off focusing on Rob (Michael Stahl-David), whose brother Jason (Mike Vogel) is throwing him a farewell party before he departs for a new job in Japan. Viewers are soon introduced to Hud, the main cameraman of the movie who starts filming speeches at the party and goes on to record the entire events of the movie. Before they learn that a monster is attacking the city, the characters are under the impression that an earthquake is what’s causing mayhem.

When they learn the truth, the party-goers join the evacuation of the city, and Jason is killed as the creature’s tail demolishes the Brooklyn Bridge. Hud and Rob—joined by Jason’s fiancé Lily (Jessica Lucas) and her friend Marlena (Lizzy Caplan)—decide to make their way to Midtown Manhattan to rescue Beth (Odette Yustman), Rob’s on-again, off-again girlfriend who is trapped in her apartment. Along the way, the group is caught in the middle of a battle between the monster and the National Guard, and Marlena is bitten by a parasitic creature while saving Hud and eventually succumbs to her wounds.

Cloverfield: Hud Was Supposed To Survive (Why He Didn’t)

Once they succeed in rescuing Beth, the remaining friends finally make to evacuate the city—Lily gets away, but the others end up crashing in Central Park when their helicopter goes down. They try to flee the park before the army enacts an operation that will destroy the city in an attempt to destroy the monster, but Hud is killed by the monster when he moves to retrieve the fallen camera. Rob and Beth, now the only remaining survivors, take the camera and record what’s happening as the monster roars and bombs go off—amid this chaos, it’s unclear if they survive.

Originally, Hud was supposed to survive through the end of the movie, too, but J.J. Abrams suggested having him get eaten by the monster to allow the audience to understand the intense danger and fear the characters are experiencing. Once it was decided he’d be killed, Hud was initially going to be eaten instantly after turning around, but Abrams thought that a clear look at the monster was needed, and opted for a long shot of the monster. This decision did indeed shock viewers, and brought the scope of the movie’s events into focus. Because of Abrams’ choice, Hud’s character served to put the audience in the midst of Cloverfield right during the height of the movie’s action; he died for a worthy cause.

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