“Black Mirror” creator Charlie Brooker wants to sever cultural ties between his Netflix sci-fi series and Apple TV+ hit “Severance.” While both series have delighted audiences across various seasons, Brooker admitted that he knows he’ll be “jealous” of “Severance” whenever he does decide to start watching it.
Brooker told The Hollywood Reporter that audiences have made him wary of beginning the acclaimed series. It turns out, people can’t help but compare the two series. “There’s certainly a show I haven’t watched that’s made me jealous,” Brooker said. “People keep telling me to watch ‘Severance,’ and I haven’t let myself do it because they also say to me, ‘Oh, you’ll love it. It’s a bit “Black Mirror”-y, but it’s much better.’”
“Severance” just concluded its second season, while “Black Mirror” is back for Season 7 on April 10. The six-episode season includes the first sequel installment in the franchise, the “USS Callister: Into Infinity” with actors Cristin Milioti, Billy Magnussen, and Jimmi Simpson reprising their respective roles from the 2017 “USS Callister” episode. Brooker teased that “USS Callister: Into Infinity” could be the start of more sequel episodes for the franchise.
“There’s a degree of freedom within the format,” he said. “We’ve done a sequel for the first time this season. We’re now looking at old episodes and thinking, ‘How could you revisit that idea?’” Brooker added, “As long as it’s interesting, I’m allowed to make it and people continue to fucking watch, I’d like to keep making the show.”
Brooker also credited Netflix for providing “tonal breaks” in the rollout of the anthology series, especially with the ordering of the episodes (“USS Callister: Into Infinity” will serve as the Season 7 finale.) “When we did the first season for Netflix, I thought ‘San Junipero’ or ‘Playtest’ should be the opener. Netflix was like, ‘No, we think it should be “Nosedive.”‘ I felt like it was, I don’t know, quite gentle?,” Brooker said. “So, I tested it out by showing a friend of mine. About ten minutes in, she went, ‘Oh, my God. This is an absolute fucking nightmare.’ Turns out it was accessible, and it was the best choice. But there’s an element to ordering these that’s like sequencing an album. You need tonal breaks.”
