One of the greatest shows on Netflix is one you won’t want to binge.
Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker’s dark and depressing reflection on humanity’s relationship with technology, began life in 2011 on the UK’s Channel 4 before Netflix snapped it up in 2015. Now we can all suffer, worldwide.
The first two seasons had three episodes each. On Netflix, season 3 and 4 both brought six episodes with new stories set in America. It expanded its Netflix episodes in December 2018 with Bandersnatch, a one-off interactive film about a guy who goes insane trying to make a video game.
Joy.
Expect more of that originality as the show boots up for a fifth season. Below is everything we know. (Miley Cyrus and The Avengers’ Anthony Mackie are reportedly in the cast. Just leaving that here.)
Bandersnatch is a one-off interactive Black Mirror film on Netflix.
Netflix
When will it come out?
There’s nothing in cement yet, but Brooker confirmed that season 5 is “imminent-ish”.
“It’s all imminent-ish. It’ll be out soon,” Brooker said in a January interview with RadioTimes.com. “We’d already shot like, one of the episodes of season 5 before we did Bandersnatch.
Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker.
Mike Marsland/Getty
“At one point we weren’t sure whether we were going to make Bandersnatch part of season 5.”
Black Mirror season 3 arrived on Netflix in October 2016. Season 4 launched in December 2017. Season 5 has been pushed back to accommodate Bandersnatch as the sprawling choose-your-own-adventure epic took a lot of hard work to pull off.
“Doing Bandersnatch was like doing several episodes at once,” Brooker told RadioTimes.com. “It was Netflix’s suggestion as well — ‘Let’s do it as its own thing’. As it expanded and got bigger and bigger and bigger it became apparent that the way to do this was to do it as a standalone thing.”
If season 5 follows Netflix’s pattern of unexpectedly dropping new shows, the first episode could come out of nowhere. We were given one day’s notice to prepare ourselves for Bandersnatch.
But since Brooker’s confirmed that at least one episode was shot last year, we at least know season 5 is looking likely for 2019.
Is there a trailer?
As soon as we get a trailer, it’ll go right here. And be prepared: Like the Bandersnatch trailer, it could arrive shortly before the first episode premieres.
Who’s starring?
Black Mirror alumni includes Jon Hamm, Bryce Dallas Howard, Hayley Atwell and Domhnall Gleeson.
Isabel Infantes/PA Images
The latest news, according to Deadline Wednesday, is that Anthony Mackie, aka Falcon in upcoming Avengers: Endgame, has been cast for season 5, alongside Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who recently played Black Manta in Aquaman.
Netflix has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Joining their ranks: one Miley Cyrus.
Technically this season 5 casting news comes under the “rumour” category after the singer hinted at her involvement while on The Howard Stern Show in December, 2018.
“If you guess it, then I will shake my head ‘yes’ or ‘no’,” she said according to The Hollywood Reporter. Stern reportedly then told listeners that she’d confirmed her casting.
There’s more. “I’m really actually excited for everyone to watch the ‘headshaking project’ we said yes to,” Cyrus later said.
San Junipero sequel
San Junipero 2… is not happening. Sorry, Kelly and Yorkie fans.
Despite the show’s penchant for including Easter egg references to earlier episodes, many of which you can find in Bandersnatch, Brooker isn’t delivering on his comments about doing a “Return to” episode that could expand season 3’s much-loved romance.
“I’ve always wanted to do a ‘Return to’ story,” Brooker said in his book Inside Black Mirror, published in November, 2018. “Return to San Junipero! Or do Crocodile again, but backwards, like Memento. Crocodile Two: Back in Business.”
Even if Brooker does go back to the ’80s utopia of San Junipero, Kelly and Yorkie’s story will be left alone.
Beloved episode San Junipero won’t have a sequel.
David Dettmann/Netflix
“In terms of a sequel to San Junipero, no, certainly not in its current form — I don’t think we’d revisit those characters unless we had a really, really good reason,” Brooker told NME.
“And I very much doubt that we would do that as an episode. Maybe as a graphic novel or some sort of commemorative biscuit. But we wouldn’t want to pick that apart and tinker with it, as we’d like to leave Kelly and Yorkie where they are.”
Guess we’ll just have to make do with original, groundbreaking storytelling.
Originally published March 13.
Update, March 20: Adds Mackie and Abdul-Mateen II casting.