We talk about Star Trek-inspired properties a lot over on our site. We mention The Orville, Galaxy Quest, and other Star Trek-themed, or inspired shows. Yet, one that we don't talk about a lot is the horror-anthology series, Black Mirror.
A modern-day Twilight Zone, Black Mirror does all the same things that the iconic Twilight Zone used to do, just with more emphasis on technology than the 1960s horror series used to. The cultural examinations, the lessons, and the concepts are pretty universal across both shows and Black Mirror mostly does an excellent job of filling in where Twilight Zone left off.
Despite Black Mirror not being anywhere close to a Star Trek clone on its own, season four brought forth an episode that caught many Star Trek fans by surprise. The episode was called USS Callister, and it featured Jesse Plemons as the standard, James Kirk-stand in character.
While Star Trek is a show that features a starship captain, a crew, a ship, and usually some poignant message of being better people, the episode of USS Calister bucks that trend entirely. Despite its trappings and over-vibe, the episode shares more in common with a book (or film) like Ready Player One than it does Star Trek.
Without spoiling the episode for those who haven't seen it, the concept of Black Mirror is usually "there's more than meets the eye". Which is entirely true about this specific episode. It was so shocking and so enthralling, that the folks of Black Mirror have opted to continue its story in season seven.
A new report claims that a sequel episode of Black Mirror's "USS Callister" will be released during its seventh season, with Cristina Milioti reprising her role from the first episode. She wasn't the headliner of the original episode, but she did play a huge part in the narrative and was arguably the catalyst for a lot of what happened.
Her returns opens up a very interesting narrative that could be truly fascinating.
First look at Cristin Milioti in the ‘USS CALLISTER’ sequel episode of ‘BLACK MIRROR’ Season 7
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 28, 2025
Releasing later this year on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/YoyaxAO7Zg
The USS Callister follow-up episode will also mark the first time in Black Mirror's history that they've done a sequel episode. Fitting that they're doing their first sequel episode with the Star Trek parody, as Trek has often been the innovator for many things in science fiction and entertainment.
There doesn't appear to be much more information on this sequel episode, but Star Trek fans who want Star Trek to embrace more genres would be wise to check out this new episode. If you want Star Trek to be a bit different, this should be exactly what you're looking for.