Black Mirror is returning to Netflix with a new season of dystopian stories

Since its fifth season premiered in 2019, Black Mirror’s episodes covering the terrors (and rare joy) of advancing technology have felt far more relevant than usual, showing us that a dystopian future could truly be within our current timeline. After three years of dealing with our world’s own mess, Variety reports that Black Mirror is ready to give us some fresh shudder-inducing content in the form of a sixth season.

Instead of the three episodes we got in season five, the Netflix series’ new season will contain more episodes this go around. A source tells Variety that the sixth season will be “even more cinematic in scope, with each installment being treated as an individual film.” Past seasons haven’t been lacking in the production value, so it’ll be interesting to see how much bigger the series decides to go.

News of an upcoming season of Black Mirror comes as a bit of surprise, since series creator Charlie Brooker revealed in 2020 his lack of interest in writing about the dystopian worlds found in the series. “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,” Brooker told Radio Times.

Though casting is underway for the new season, it’s likely we’ll see some big names soon on the IMDb page. Previous seasons have included the likes of Anthony Mackie, Michaela Coel, Jesse Plemons, Bryce Dallas Howard, and so many other great actors that it would get overwhelming to name them all.

If you’re brave enough to do a rewatch of the series, check out The A.V. Club’s ranking of the dystopian drama’s episodes here. Though dread is Black Mirror’s bread and butter, we’re crossing our fingers for one happy ending in the new season that will fill us with warmth like season three’s “San Junipero” did.