Black Mirror Season 7 has just aired, and it ended with the fantastic USS Callister: Into Infinity. This episode served as a direct sequel to USS Callister, which originally released as part of Season 4 back in 2017. Upon finishing the project, director Toby Haynes had told series creator Charlie Brooker that this episode was a fantastic pilot for a space series. As it turns out, there were casual talks about turning it into a spinoff series, but now, Haynes may look to turn it into a trilogy instead.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Haynes stated that he had already been talking about a potential USS Callister sequel as soon as they wrapped filming on the first episode. He said to Brooker, “We’ve made the best sci-fi pilot for a show that doesn’t exist. We’ve sort of done an undercover pilot, why don’t we just go straight into a series?”
Brooker was initially hesitant as he’s never wanted to do spin-offs from episodes and liked to work on fresh ideas. Haynes was relentless though, and eventually Brooker came around as he realized the potential of a sequel. When they started talking about it in earnest, Haynes mentions that USS Callister was “fully explored as a series.” However, they eventually landed on making a sequel instead, as Haynes was worried about the show getting watered down if they made it a full series.
But with this film, I think we’ve got something bigger and better. It was reconceived as a sequel, and I think that’s what it should be. What I was nervous about with it being a series was, would it be watered down what was a really neat mini-movie? Coming back and making it as a single film elevates the whole piece into a movie series, which is where great sci-fi belongs, isn’t it?
The Hollywood Reporter
Haynes goes on to say that he ultimately landed on the idea of a trilogy because “it kind of elevates the whole thing into the perfect format for a sci-fi adventure.”
We could be making our own, I’d like to say, iconic sci-fi trilogy within the Black Mirror world. And what could be better? It’s so exciting. If we do another one! I’d like to make good on the trilogy.
Black Mirror Season 7 is now available for streaming on Netflix. USS Callister: Into Infinity is the final episode in the season.
