| “ | You think I sound crazy. I mean, it's amazing. You people... you wear helmets when you ride your bikes. You have seat belts in your cars. You have alarm systems to protect your homes. But what do you do when those alarms go off? "Crazy" is building your ark after the flood has already come! | „ |
| ~ Howard to Michelle |
Howard Stambler is the main antagonist of the 2016 science-fiction/thriller film, 10 Cloverfield Lane. He is the first human antagonist in the Cloverfield anthology series.
History[]
Prior to the events of the movie, Howard worked in the Navy and had a wife and a daughter, called Denise and Megan, respectively. While on a satellite mission, Howard and his colleagues were supposed to be searching for Soviet spy satellites. However, they instead they found a large mysterious entity in the ocean. The Navy commanders arrested Howard's mentor and accused him of spying for the Soviets. They then threatened to arrest Howard should he keep asking questions about the what they saw. The project was cancelled soon after, with a cover-up being used. He left the Navy shortly afterwards. Howard, paranoid and unable to forget what he saw, began to act aggressively towards his wife and daughter. Denise eventually left him and went to Chicago, taking Megan with her.
Howard began to prepare for the worst, and hired a man named Emmett to build a bunker. Howard repeatedly attempted to contact Megan through a website, inviting her to the bunker. Despite his efforts, Howard was unable to communicate with his daughter. Denise found out about his attempts to communicate with Megan and asked him to forget about both of them.
10 Cloverfield Lane[]
After hearing about a recent attack, Howard drove to his bunker in a panic, crashing into the car of a woman named Michelle. Feeling pity for her, he took her to his bunker and treated to her wounds. That same night, Emmett attempted to get into the bunker, breaking his arm in the process. His efforts were not in vain, as Howard allowed him to stay in the bunker as well, albeit begrudgingly.