The world of M3GAN is expanding with a spinoff movie in addition to a proper sequel, but the spinoff movie already sounds too similar to one of Black Mirror’s best episodes. The horror genre continues to enjoy a successful run with adaptations of other works, sequels, reboots, and original works, and one of the biggest surprises in the latter category is M3GAN. Directed by Gerard Johnstone, M3GAN was released in 2022 and took critics and general audiences by surprise with its blend of sci-fi, horror, and comedy. M3GAN was a critical and commercial success, becoming one of 2022’s best horror movies.

M3GAN follows Gemma (Allison Williams), a roboticist at a toy company who becomes the guardian of her eight-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw). To help her cope with the loss of her parents, Gemma pairs Cady with a child-sized humanoid robot powered by artificial intelligence called M3GAN. Although it starts well and Cady shows improvement, M3GAN develops self-awareness and becomes over-protective of Cady, determined to take down anyone who comes between them. The success of M3GAN led to the development of a sequel and now a spinoff movie too, but the latter is already too similar to one Black Mirror episode.

M3GAN Spinoff Movie Soulm8te Is The Horror Version Of Black Mirror’s “Be Right Back”

“Be Right Back” Is One Of Black Mirror’s Best Episodes

The ending of M3GAN left the door open for a continuation, as even though the doll was destroyed, it was implied the AI is still active, as one of Gemma’s AI home devices turned on by itself right at the end. A M3GAN sequel was confirmed to be in development in 2023, with Williams and McGraw returning to reprise their roles, and it’s scheduled for a June 27, 2025, release. Now, M3GAN is also getting a spinoff movie titled Soulm8te, an erotic thriller projected for a January 2, 2026, release.

Soulm8te will be directed by Kate Dolan, with a story by James Wan and Ingrid Bisu. Soulm8te follows a man who buys an AI android to cope with the loss of his recently deceased wife. However, in an attempt to create a sentient partner, he accidentally turns the once harmless android into a deadly soulmate. Soulm8te fits with the technologically advanced world introduced in M3GAN, but it’s also similar to Black Mirror’s season 2 episode “Be Right Back”, starring Domhnall Gleeson and Hayley Atwell.

“Be Right Back” follows Martha, who, after her boyfriend, Ash, dies in a car accident, buys an AI service that imitates him. Martha then decides to try the service’s experimental stage in which, with AI-Ash’s instructions, she turns a synthetic body into an android almost identical to Ash. However, Martha grows frustrated and sadder when she realizes that, as much as the android looks and talks like Ash, she will never really have him back. Soulm8te has the same premise, but instead of having a melancholic tone, it’s going on a horror path by turning the android into a threat.

How Soulm8te Can Avoid Comparisons To Black Mirror & M3GAN

Soulm8te Has A Big Challenge Ahead

As exciting as its story sounds, Soulm8te is facing big challenges due to its connection to M3GAN and its similarities to Black Mirror’s “Be Right Back”. Soulm8te will obviously have links to M3GAN as it’s part of the same universe, but at the same time, it has to be its own thing to stand out and avoid being the same movie but with different characters. It’s unclear if Soulm8te will take place before or after the events of M3GAN and if Gemma’s company will be involved in some way, but Soulm8te has better chances of succeeding if it doesn’t do the same things M3GAN did.

“Be Right Back” is one of the best Black Mirror episodes to date (and widely regarded by many as the series’ best episode), and comparisons between it and Soulm8te will be inevitable when the latter comes out. However, Soulm8te has the advantage of leaning more into horror than “Be Right Back”, which was more about drama rather than horror. Through this, Soulm8te can give an interesting twist to “Be Right Back”, showing another, more terrifying side to the story than Black Mirror did.