Netflix renewed the twisty sci-fi series Black Mirror for season 7 last year with a release date set for 2025. In addition to stories featuring technology run amok, season 7 will feature something new for the fan-favorite anthology series: a long-awaited sequel to one of its most popular episodes.
That’s right, Black Mirror is making a sequel to “USS Callister”, the Star Trek homage that originally premiered in season four in 2017. Netflix announced the news at the Next on Netflix event in London this week, where the streamer released a statement saying, “Robert Daly is dead, but for the crew of the USS Callister, their problems are just beginning.”
“USS Callister”, written by series creator Charlie Brooker and William Bridges and directed by Toby Haynes, centers on Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) an awkward programmer and co-founder of a successful MMORPG who feels spurned by his coworkers. He gets revenge via an in-game mod inspired by the ’60s series Star Fleet (a thinly veiled spoof of Star Trek), where he uses his co-worker’s DNA to create digital clones within the game. Daly, as the captain the ship, controls and tortures the clones as revenge on their IRL counterparts.
When new programmer Nanette Cole (Cristin Milioti) is cloned into the game, she seeks to escape the digital prison and overthrow Daly as captain. The episode delivers on several fronts, as both a hilarious send-up of Star Trek: TOS and a disturbing look at misogyny and toxic fandom. It’s also the rare Black Mirror episode that ends on a somewhat uplifting note, as Nanette and the digital clone crew go off in search of new adventures.
In addition to Plemons and Milioti, “USS Callister” stars Michaela Coel, Jimmi Simpson, Billy Magnussen, Milanka Brooks, Osy Ikhile, and Paul G. Raymond. Aaron Paul makes a voice cameo as a gamer towards the end of the episode.
“USS Callister” received critical acclaim upon its release, winning four Primetime Emmys, including Outstanding TV Movie and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special.
Haynes called the episode “probably one of the best pilots for a space show ever,” and Milioti expressed interest in a sequel in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where she said, “I would die if they turned this into a spinoff series because I do want to see that group of people figure it out, because it’s so real. They’re very funny and very dysfunctional, but it’s also a group of coworkers from an office — it’s like The Office in space. They’re stuck in this thing they didn’t even create and they would just have to battle aliens. It’s such an incredible concept. Maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part, but I would love to see that.”
Season 7 of Black Mirror premieres in 2025 on Netflix.
(featured image: Jonathan Prime/Netflix)
Published: Mar 14, 2024 03:39 pm