The seventh season of “Black Mirror” just dropped on Netflix on April 10, and it included something new for Charlie Brooker’s anthology TV series: a true sequel to a previous installment. 2017’s “USS Callister” was enormously popular when it premiered in season 4, so it makes sense that in season 7, we got “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” a feature-length episode following up on that story. According to an interview with Entertainment Weekly, though, Brooker actually planned for another “Black Mirror” story to get a sequel first.
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“I did work out the storyline for a completely different sequel for ‘Bandersnatch,’ which was going to be called ‘Banderstruck,’ but I never got to do it,” Brooker revealed, specifying that he would have written a sequel to the show’s innovative interactive special that came out in 2018. In that special, we, for lack of a better term, “control” main character Stefan Butler (Fionn Whitehead), picking his breakfast cereal and what music he listens to on the bus as well as making some … much weightier decisions down the line. The outlet followed up and asked Brooker if he could share how a “Bandersnatch” sequel might move beyond the original’s 1980s setting and how much it would expand that story’s world. Predictably, Brooker was tight-lipped about the specifics: “No. Because I might still revisit that well in some way, but it was about a slightly different era.”
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“I’m agnostic as to what it was going to be,” Brooker added. “I was kicking around a sort of idea, which I might still revisit.” Okay, so we still might get a true “Bandersnatch” sequel, but let me refresh your memory as to what “Bandersnatch” even is (and how some of its story elements did factor into season 7 of “Black Mirror”).
What happened in Bandersnatch again?
Let’s quickly revisit “Bandersnatch,” one of a few interactive specials released on Netflix that lets the viewer be a part of the story and choose their own adventure as it progresses. When we meet Stefan, he’s simply excited to go to a meeting at the software company Tuckersoft and meet owner Mohan Thakur (Asim Chaudhry) and the company’s star programmer Colin Ritman (Will Poulter). Though Mohan wants Stefan to come work on his game, also titled “Bandersnatch,” at Tuckersoft, the special directly encourages you to reject the offer and work on the game at Stefan’s home, though Stefan will reconnect with Colin as things progress.
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As the narrative continues, the viewer is presented with truly so many possibilities. Maybe Stefan tosses a cup of tea over his computer while arguing with his dad Peter (Craig Parkinson), ruining his work … although if you, as the viewer, choose that ending, you’re swiftly rerouted and encouraged to try something else. Without spoiling the entirety of “Bandersnatch,” this special has seemingly endless pathways and choices that do sometimes converge into a cohesive plot, but to see the entire thing, be prepared to play for a while. Here’s a quick anecdote: I played “Bandersnatch” the day it came out with a friend of mine, and we thought trying it out for a little bit couldn’t hurt. Eight hours later, we were arguing about whether or not to murder one of the characters (and, at a later point, how we should murder said character).
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Here’s something interesting, though: Poulter’s Colin does show up in season 7 of “Black Mirror,” as does Mohan. So, what does Charlie Brooker say about having those characters reappear?
Wait, so the Season 7 episode Plaything isn’t a sequel to Bandersnatch?
In a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly, Charlie Brooker did address that, in the season 7 episode “Playthings,” we revisit Tuckersoft and see both Mohan Thakur and Colin Ritman as they discuss a different game (“Thronglets”) with a different person, a game reviewer named Cameron Walker (Lewis Gribben). Colin gives Cameron a copy of “Thronglets,” which lets you raise the title creatures, and Colin stresses that the beings are as real as any digital being can be, setting up a new digital dystopia separate from “Bandersnatch.” As Brooker said, this episode is the result of one of the many endings of “Bandersnatch” where Colin survives (he doesn’t survive all of them, but again, I’ll let you go down that rabbit hole yourself if you haven’t already). It is, therefore, not a direct sequel to “Bandersnatch.”
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“We set up in another episode this season that there’s parallel realities, and that’s also set up in ‘Bandersnatch,'” Brooker told the outlet. “I knew I wanted Cameron to meet this programmer, but [I thought], wait a minute, I created this character, Colin Ritman, played by Will Poulter in ‘Bandersnatch.’ I loved that character, and Mohan Thakur, Asim Chaudhry, who played his boss in the original ‘Bandersnatch,’ I’m going to write the best version of that.”
Luckily, both Asim Chaudhry and Will Poulter were available: “I prayed and hoped we can get Will and Asim back to reprise their roles. It came about that way.” Finally, Brooker said that anything is possible within the confines of this particular series. “What that says, in terms of the ‘Black Mirror’ multiverse or whatever you want to call it, I’ll leave up to the viewer, because I think all endings of ‘Bandersnatch’ are as valid as the next,” Brooker concluded.
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Season 7 of “Black Mirror” is streaming on Netflix now, as is “Bandersnatch.”
