We have exclusive details on the trailer for the J.J. Abrams–produced Super 8, which will unspool at 12:01 am Thursday night in front of Iron Man 2. We feel compelled to insert a spoiler alert — read no further if you just want it to be a surprise! — lest a livid Cloverfield fan hurl an icy Slusho! in our direction. Here's what we know for certain ...

Insiders familiar with the trailer tell us that it shows a bunch of kids who are shooting a movie with a Super 8 camera in the seventies or eighties. When they develop the film, they notice that there's an alien creature in the frame. Our sources also say that Super 8 is absolutely connected to 2008's Cloverfield (possibly a prequel, but not a sequel). (See update!)

Whether the actual Super 8 movie will be set in the seventies, eighties, or present day is anyone's guess. And yet, just this scrap of information will have fans obsessing for months. Advantage yours, Abrams.

Update: J.J. Abrams’s Cloverfield-esque Super 8 Has ‘Absolutely Nothing to Do With Cloverfield’