Black Mirror returns in April with a sequel to one of its most-discussed episodes

Netflix announced on Thursday that Charlie Brooker’s conversation-starting bleak-future anthology series Black Mirror will return for a seventh season on April 10. The announcement came with a gallery of season images and a preview trailer for the six-episode season, which includes prominent appearances from Paul Giamatti, Peter Capaldi, Awkwafina, and others, plus a Black Mirror first: an entire sequel episode, taking up the story of the season 4 episode “USS Callister.”

Brooker had previously stated at a Netflix press event that two of this season’s episodes are “basically feature length,” and that the tone of the season returns to Black Mirror’s original blend of horror and dark futurism: “It’s back to basics in many ways. They’re all sci-fi stories — there’s definitely some horrifying things that occur, but maybe not in an overt horror-movie way. There’s definitely some disturbing content in it.”

Past seasons of Black Mirror (and the feature-length choose-your-own-story interactive special Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) have largely focused on hyperbolic extensions and expansions of a particular technology, idea, or element of modern society, to the point where they become a focus for an unpleasant future. In keeping with the title, Brooker’s series focuses a “dark mirror” on the present, for instance considering what the world would look like if Boston Dynamics’ virally famous dog robots became autonomous weapons systems (season 4’s “Metalhead”), or if the trend toward every company following every experience and interaction with a “rate us” poll became the governing idea behind society (season 4’s “Nosedive”).

That approach has famously led to some snide commentary about Brooker’s cynicism (like Daniel Mallory Ortberg’s viral tweet and later article describing the whole show as “what if phones but too much”), as well as a sense of repetition and diminished returns. Going back to previous episodes and expanding on their stories is a new and interesting approach — “USS Callister,” one of the series’ best episodes, is also one of the few with a positive ending and a sense that it could support an ongoing story. In that episode, Cristin Milioti plays a new arrival on a Star Trek-esque spaceship with a big secret, run by a toxic captain played by Jesse Plemons, king of toxic, discomfiting characters. Milioti will return for the sequel episode. The trailer also features Will Poulter as a character who looks familiar from Bandersnatch, though Netflix did not mention whether his episode is directly related to that project.

Netflix doesn’t have loglines for individual episodes of season 7 yet, but the announcement did reiterate previous casting announcements and add new names:

New Cast Announced: Michele Austin, Ben Bailey Smith, Asim Chaudhry, Josh Finan, James Nelson-Joyce, Will Poulter, Jay Simpson, Michael Workéyè
Previously Announced Lead Cast: Awkwafina, Milanka Brooks, Peter Capaldi, Emma Corrin, Patsy Ferran, Paul Giamatti, Lewis Gribben, Osy Ikhile, Rashida Jones, Siena Kelly, Billy Magnussen, Rosy McEwen, Cristin Milioti, Chris O’Dowd, Issa Rae, Paul G. Raymond, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jimmi Simpson, Harriet Walter

Season 7 of Black Mirror will debut on April 10.