Reality and fiction are never far apart in Netflix’s Black Mirror, and Season 7 promises to blur those lines even further. The newly released trailer and photos for the upcoming season showcases a disturbing mix of AI, virtual worlds, video games, and mind-altering technology, all wrapped in the show’s signature unsettling tone. With six new episodes on the way, including the first-ever sequel in the series’ history, expectations are high for another round of cautionary tales about humanity’s relationship with technology.
The return of USS Callister takes centre stage in the Black Mirror Season 7 trailer, with Cristin Milioti reprising her role as Nanette Cole. A robotic voice welcomes her back to the twisted digital prison she escaped in Season 4, setting the stage for an unsettling continuation of one of the show’s most acclaimed episodes. Billy Magnussen’s Karl Valdack also makes a return, suggesting that the remnants of Robert Daly’s virtual empire are far from dismantled.
In other episodes, Rashida Jones appears as a corporate figurehead in an unsettling advertisement for a children’s cereal, her manufactured smile masking an unspoken dread. Issa Rae’s character undergoes a procedure with a device operated by Peter Capaldi, sending her consciousness into a black-and-white reality that seems as eerie as it is inescapable. Will Poulter, who previously starred in Bandersnatch, is shown developing a retro video game, though whether he is in control or merely another pawn in a larger experiment remains to be seen. The trailer also teases a masked superhero figure and an AI entity struggling with its own sense of self-awareness.
With Black Mirror, the devil is always in the details, and the trailer’s final moments hint at the interconnected nature of this season’s stories. Overlapping dialogue hints at a common thread of control and manipulation, with technology once again serving as both the enabler and the antagonist. Games appear to play a significant role in multiple episodes, reinforcing the show’s ongoing commentary on entertainment as a tool for both escapism and exploitation.
Whether through the return to USS Callister, the unsettling depictions of AI consciousness, or the psychological manipulation of virtual reality, Black Mirror Season 7 continues to reflect society’s anxieties about the technologies shaping daily life. Anticipation builds for another round of thought-provoking, often unsettling tales that challenge perceptions of progress and control.
Black Mirror Season 7 premieres 10 April on Netflix.
Natalie is a big fan of anything related to movies, TV shows, and anime — you name it. When she’s not reading or being a dedicated cinephile, she’s probably playing gacha and tabletop games, or daydreaming of Caleb from Love and Deepspace.
Kevin Low
