When Black Mirror returned to Netflix last year after a four-year hiatus, viewers were instantly drawn back into the acclaimed sci-fi anthology's dystopian portrayals of how cutting-edge technology can intersect with the worst parts of human nature. (Some of us—coughmecough—are still obsessed with the "Joan Is Awful" ending.) It turns out, fans won't have another super-long wait between Black Mirror season 6 and a new batch of episodes. Netflix announced Thursday that creator Charlie Brooker is already at work on season 7, which will include a return to one of the series' most famous episodes. Read on for everything we know about Black Mirror season 7 so far.
When will 'Black Mirror' season 7 come out?
On March 14, Netflix surprised fans with the news that Black Mirror season 7 is already in production, with six new episodes planned to hit Netflix in 2025. A short teaser posted on YouTube remixes the show's famed loading-screen title card, promising "six new stories" as six smaller loading icons pop up. While the rest of the icons keep spinning, the third in the row stops on the symbol from season 4's "USS Callister," as the fictional Star Trek analogue's theme plays in the background.
The USS Callister crew (l-r, Osy Ikhile, Jimmi Simpson, Michaela Coel, Cristin Milioti, and Jesse Plemons) explore a planet in the Black Mirror season 4 episode.
What will happen in 'Black Mirror' season 7?
Netflix traditionally stays mum on anything having to do with Black Mirror until the trailer release, so the streamer's reveal that the new season will include a sequel episode to season 4's "USS Callister" is huge news. Per Deadline, it was revealed at Netflix’s "See What’s Next Event" in London accompanied by this ominious teaser: “USS Callister will return… Robert Daly is dead, but for the crew of the USS Callister, their problems are just beginning."
A quick recap: The 2017 episode followed Daly (Jesse Plemons), a socially-awkward programmer who co-founded a popular multiplayer online game but felt unrecognized and belittled by his co-workers. The vindictive tech wiz took out his toxic frustrations by stealing his co-workers' DNA and create digital clones of them, trapping the sentient avatars in a Star Trek-like simulation where Daly is basically Captain Kirk. Arguably the best episode of the series so far (sorry San Junipero hive), it ends with the digital crew escaping Daly's server and heading out into the open game, which means there are plenty more horrible gamer dudes they'll have to outwit.
The USS Callister sequel also means we can guess at which members of Black Mirror's A-list cast would return in season 7. The actors who made it out of the original episode alive include Cristin Milioti, Michaela Coel, Jimmi Simpson, Billy Magnussen, Milanka Brooks, Osy Ikhile, and Paul G. Raymond. It also featured voice cameos from Aaron Paul (as Gamer691) and Kirsten Dunst, (as a random Callister employee), but their returns are more unlikely.
