Black Mirror Season 6: Everything We Know So Far About The Return Of The Netflix Series

Big news for fans of existential dread: if the past few years existing in our current dystopian hellscape haven't been enough, then Netflix has you covered! The much-loved sci-fi anthology "Black Mirror" is set to return for a sixth season, with all the typical trappings of the Charlie Brooker-created series: dark concepts, a big budget, and a stacked cast. Once again, we'll receive various episodes (each with a new concept and cast of characters) delving into the worst of humanity via technology. After memory databases and virtual sex with polar bears, what horrors will humanity's innovations breed next?

Since the fifth season dropped on Netflix in 2019, the future of "Black Mirror" has been unclear. Series creators Charlie Brooker and executive producer Annabel Jones collaborated on the series for years through their production company, House of Tomorrow until January 2020, when they exited to establish a new company (Broke and Bones). Although they also arranged a long-term contract with Netflix, the rights to "Black Mirror" stayed with parent company Endemol Shine Group, which was later acquired by Banijay Group in the summer of that year. All of that to say that Brooker and Jones weren't able to produce any more seasons for Netflix without hammering out a deal with Banijay. After two years of radio silence on that front, fans began to assume that the era of "Black Mirror" had come to a close. But evidently, the two companies came to an agreement because season six of "Black Mirror" is official.

News of the "Black Mirror" season 6 renewal came via a report from Variety, but specific details on the season were scarce. While the episode plots remain a mystery, we can expect the upcoming season to be more "cinematic" in scope, with each entry being treated as an individual film. This is pretty in line with how the anthology series already functioned, especially after moving to Netflix, where episodes often exceeded 60-minute runtimes and touted high production value. As for the length of the season, it's expected to be longer than the fifth (which only included three episodes).

Plot-wise, we can only speculate. In the wake of the fifth season, Charlie Brooker said what we've all been thinking — who could stomach a new season of "Black Mirror" when we're basically living through an episode ourselves? He told the UK's Radio Times:

"At the moment, I don't know what stomach there would be for stories about societies falling apart, so I'm not working away on one of those. I'm sort of keen to revisit my comic skill set, so I've been writing scripts aimed at making myself laugh."

So did he manage to work through the sorrow of the past few years and funnel it into more scripts? Or might we expect a season that's very different than the ones prior? It's also conceivable that Brooker won't be the one to pen the upcoming season. Only time will tell, but in the meantime, it feels like the extended hiatus could have very promising results. Both the audience and creatives have spent some time away from "Black Mirror," giving the show ample opportunity to break its pattern and explore new territory.