The End of Oak Street Is Part of a Cinematic Universe, But It’s Not Cloverfield. It’s Primeval.
As of writing this post, it’s been almost 2 months since the release of The End of Oak Street. In that time, in spite of all the discourse and theories I’ve seen others have about this film, I haven’t seen anyone else bring up the theory mentioned in the title. I hope you’ll indulge me as I present my reasons for this claim.
For anyone who doesn’t know, there was a sci-fi series produced in the UK called Primeval. The premise of this show (and its Canadian spin-off, Primeval: New World) involved ordinary individuals trying to solve mysteries surrounding the arrival of wormholes (known as Anomalies) and the creatures (past, present and future) that would find themselves traversing into the modern day. Both series were known not just for the beloved characters but mainly for the rather unique designs of the paleofauna (and speculative future animals) which appeared in the show. There also was a huge interest within the series’ universe involving the repercussions of altering events in history, which at times resulted in branching timelines and even doppelgängers of various characters.
The franchise was popular enough that in the early-to-mid-2010s, Warner Brothers at one point was interested in adapting it for the big screen. The project never materialized… unless it did. Albeit as The End of Oak Street.
The film features several elements eerily similar to Primeval. The main characters are an ordinary family who find themselves interacting with creatures from various points in time. These creatures have designs that have their own distinct look. There are also wormholes that characters and creatures traverse through in different points of spacetime. And if you’ve seen how the film ends, you’d know that the resolution involves altering the timeline and introducing doppelgängers of certain characters.
What you will notice about this film is that yes, it was produced by Warner Brothers. The creature designs do have some elements of paleo accuracy, but as with Primeval, there was a style influenced by the “rule of cool”. Unlike the series it would be based on, the film actually gives clues as to the origin of how the Anomalies come to be. Speaking of the Anomalies, it is true the designs look different between the shows and the movie—but that actually makes sense. Within the series itself, advancements in CGI and increased budgets allowed for alterations in how the wormholes looked. This also would explain why certain animals, such as the Spinosaurus, would look different between the film and TV shows. Obviously there would be in-universe reasons for the alterations in how animals looked, but that would be for another film or show to elaborate on. And on one final note… considering the film takes place in 1982 USA, this would predate both Primeval TV shows. While there obviously had to be local news channels elaborating on what happened after Flowervale’s disappearance, it would make sense (note, this is just conjecture) there would soon be cover-ups by the US government that the Primeval teams would eventually find out about after getting security clearance from British and Canadian authorities.
There have been claims The End of Oak Street is in the Cloverfield universe, but I would argue there’s stronger evidence it’s in the Primeval universe. So what are your thoughts? Lemme know in the comments, but please be respectful about it.