Black Mirror fans have been waiting for a new season for a long, long time – four years to be exact – which means that, as usual, the new episodes will be welcomed with a mountain of expectations. The good news is: Netflix announced today we won’t have to wait long. Season 6 is premiering this June! The streamer unveiled a teaser for the new episodes along with a batch of images that suggest what kind of episodes we’ll see this time around.
Ever since his name was announced, Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) became one of the most anticipated stars from the new season, and his image suggests he’ll be in a more sci-fi-driven episode. There’s not much to see, but Paul’s character looks like he’s sporting an astronaut suit and walking around a ship or station, and we see this through a hatch window. The images also tease the participation of previously announced stars Zazie Beetz (Joker), Salma Hayek Pinault (Magic Mike: The Last Dance), Kate Mara (Call Jane), Josh Hartnett (Penny Dreadful), Samuel Blenkin (The Witcher: Blood Origin), Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You), Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts), and Annie Murphy (Schitt's Creek).
Netflix Teases "Unclassifiable" Season
There’s another piece of information that stood out during the teaser announcement: It seems like, for the first time ever, Black Mirror is breaking away from its format. The teaser doesn’t make it clear how, but Netflix is teasing “the most unpredictable, unclassifiable and unexpected” season yet. This coming from a show that already did a video game, a Star Trek, and a black-and-white episode. Speaking of which, an episode count for Season 6 is yet to be revealed by Netflix as well.
In addition to the cast showcased in the brand-new images, Black Mirror Season 6 will also include Auden Thornton, Ben Barnes, Clara Rugaard, Daniel Portman, Danny Ramirez, Himesh Patel, John Hannah, Michael Cera, Monica Dolan, Myha'la Herrold, Rob Delaney, and Rory Culkin.
Black Mirror is Subverting Black Mirror, Says Charlie Brooker
The shift in format provides room for plenty of speculation, since Black Mirror is known for subverting its own format on several occasions. In all episodes, the common thread is that technology is approached in some way, and all episodes are mostly about how harmful it can be – but even this has been subverted in the series. Through an official statement, series creator Charlie Brooker made the upcoming changes even more of a mystery, and commented that the idea of the new season is to make Black Mirror even more difficult to define.
"I've always felt that 'Black Mirror' should feature stories that are entirely distinct from one another, and keep surprising people (and myself) or else what’s the point? It should be a series that can’t be easily defined, and can keep reinventing itself. So partly as a challenge, and partly to keep things fresh for both me and the viewer, I began this season by deliberately upending some of my own core assumptions about what to expect.”
Brooker is teasing new elements, going places he promised himself he’d never go and stretching the parameter of what the anthology series can be about. For now, all we can do is speculate, but some possibilities we can guess are sequel episodes (the stories have been self-contained this far) or maybe a stronger interconnection between each entry, which normally differ wildly from each other. The series’ setting is also frequently futuristic, hardly ever diving back into the past. This could be another direction that one or multiple episodes go. Either way, we’ll have to wait a couple of months to find out.
Netflix premieres Season 6 of Black Mirror in June. A specific release window is yet to be announced. You can watch the teaser trailer below: