Fans have been waiting for Black Mirror Season 5 since Netflix dropped the six-episode Season 4 in December 2017. Although it revealed the interactive movie, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, last year, the streaming service couldn't deny that a lot of its subscribers are clamoring for the new series installment. There are even rumors it will feature more positive storylines this time.
There are no concrete details yet about Black Mirror Season 5, aside from the creator Charlie Brooker's "imminent-ish" statement. "It's all imminent-ish. It'll be out soon," he said in an interview in January, via CNET. "We'd already shot like, one of the episodes of season 5 before we did Bandersnatch."
At the time, people behind the series were not sure if they would make Bandersnatch a part of Black Mirror Season 5. It was even because of the film that the new installment's release got pushed back.
Brooker explained doing Bandersnatch was like working on several episodes at once as they had a hard time pulling it off. As it got bigger and bigger, they decided to make it a standalone thing that ended up being a choose-your-own-adventure movie.
So when would fans see Black Mirror Season 5? Netflix usually drops new episodes and series unexpectedly, so it may surprise its subscribers by releasing the new installment without them knowing. It even dropped Bandersnatch a day after the announcement.
Aside from giving an update about Black Mirror Season 5's release, Brooker also tackled is possible plotline. Although he didn't exactly reveal each episode's storyline, he said it would be "more straightforward" compared to Bandersnatch. It would also come with its challenges.
Brooker also shut down the claims that Black Mirror Season 5 would touch on political topics. Hence, Inverse reported there would be Donald Trump story or even Brexit. "Because of the turnaround time that we have, we don't want to be completely outmoded," he said. He went on to say they never tend to work on what is currently happening today and write about it.
The Verge added Black Mirror Season 5 might feature "slightly different show" when it finally comes out. Brooker revealed they were working on "more optimistic episodes and stories," instead of the usual dystopian tales with a pessimistic approach.
There are observations the show should change its storylines to stay relevant. From the looks of it, Black Mirror Season 5 is following the advice, given its positive stories received critical success. So, it looks like fans are up on a waiting game to see how the new episodes will run, although there are theories it may come out sometime this year.
