'Black Mirror' Season 4 News: Release Date Revealed After Trailer for 'USS Callister' Dropped
Netflix has revealed the release date for season 4 of "Black Mirror."
Prior to the big reveal, the streaming giant posted the trailer for "USS Callister," an episode that is an obvious homage to "Star Trek." At that point, trailers for five out of six episodes had already been released.
The "USS Callister" trailer opens with Lt. Cole (Cristin Milioti) being welcomed on the ship by its captain (Jesse Plemons). It is clear that she is unaware of why or how she got there, but that does not stop her from joining the team on adventures. While the trailer is somewhat brighter and more upbeat, fans would do well to remember that "Black Mirror" is known for truly sinister and darker themes.
"'Callister' is very dark in places and it's got moments of comedy that you maybe wouldn't have expected a few years ago from 'Black Mirror,'" creator Charlie Brooker told Radio Times in a previous interview.
Brooker also revealed that "USS Callister" runs quite long, nearing the duration of a feature-length film at 74 minutes. Although not a direct offspring of season 3's "San Junipero," Brooker shared that he was inspired by the 1980s-set episode to explore new territories.
More recently, Netflix released another trailer for "Black Mirror" season 4, which also gave away its release date. It features clips from all six episodes of the season set to Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." And, though the song is hopeful and optimistic in its tone and lyrics, fans know not to expect anything too bright and cheerful from "Black Mirror." After all, the show is famous for delivering dark and satirical stories revolving around technology.
However, Brooker previously said that there would be "different tones" in the fourth season of the anthology series, so perhaps viewers will not be too depressed by the time they finish watching all of the episodes.
"Black Mirror" season 4 will be released on Dec. 29 on Netflix.
