It’s been nearly three years since the last season of Black Mirror, and fans had begun to give up any hope of the sci-fi series returning – but in July 2022, Variety announced that there would be a sixth season coming to Netflix. Some actors are already confirmed to appear in the dystopian anthology, and of those, four actors have a connection to the Marvel world: Zazie Beetz, Kate Mara, Danny Ramirez, and Rob Delaney.
As a show with no season-long storyline, Black Mirror introduces a whole new cast of characters in every episode. With so many characters, there are bound to be actor crossovers between it and another film and television juggernaut, MCU. Though season 6 will bring on board many familiar Marvel faces, they are not the only people to accomplish this feat.
Hayley Atwell
One of the earlier Black Mirror episodes, “Be Right Back”, stars Domhnall Gleeson and Hayley Atwell. Atwell is a recently widowed wife, who transfers her husband’s memories to an Android that quickly becomes just another sad reminder of his death.
It’s a grief-filled and uncertain role, a far cry from her role in Captain Americaand in the Agent Carterseries. In the MCU, Atwell plays Peggy Carter, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent from the middle of the 20th century who is no-nonsense, brave, and heroic. But the characters do share a similarity in that the man they loved passed away too soon.
Michaela Coel
Michaela Coel actually appeared in two episodes of Black Mirror. She first had a small role in “Nosedive,” but then she had a much larger role as a digital crew member in “USS Callister.” In the latter episode, she is one of Jesse Plemons’ prisoners forced to act out his misogynistic and egotistical fantasy.
She recently appeared in Black Panther: Wakanda Foreveras a member of the Dora Milaje, the all-female special forces crew that protects the leader of Wakanda. As Aneka, Coel is a powerful warrior, who eventually earns the right to wear the “Midnight Angel” armor. But her intensity hides a tenderness that she shares with her partner Ayo.
Anthony Mackie
Anthony Mackie’s first role as the Falcon came in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Since then, he has essentially taken up the mantle of Captain America as well as the possible leader of the MCU movies’ new Avengers.
But despite his busy schedule, Mackie had time to appear in a season 5 episode of Black Mirror, “Striking Vipers.” He plays a man caught in a philosophical dilemma about sex, trust, and what’s real or not. Mackie’s role as Danny is more complex, showing the action star’s versatility outside the superhero genre.
Daniel Kaluuya
Daniel Kaluuya’s collaborations with Jordan Peele have made him the most recognized actor in the industry, but the actor has done himself many favors by appearing in Black Panther as torn general W’Kabi. Nonetheless, most American audiences’ first introduction to Kaluuya most likely came in Black Mirror.
“Fifteen Million Merits” is the show’s second episode, and Kaluuya is the star and has to hold the screen alone for much of the episode. He has to appear determined, in love, horrified, and resigned all in one episode, and he nails each emotion.
Pom Klementieff
Pom Klementieff appeared alongside, but never on-screen at the same time as another MCU alum in Black Mirror’s “Striking Vipers.” Klementieff plays the virtual avatar of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s character, who starts a virtual relationship with Anthony Mackie’s avatar. Klementieff does an excellent job mimicking the character’s robotic and videogame-like sounding clips.
Her time in Black Mirror came right in the middle of her run as Mantis. In 2017, Klementieff appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2as the socially peculiar empath who says whatever comes into her head, usually to the embarrassment of those around her. But her innocence and naivety mean she never realizes when this happens.
Letitia Wright
One year before Letitia Wright appeared in Black Panther and entered the MCU as one of the most important characters in the story, she starred in an episode of Black Mirror, “Black Museum.” Wright plays Nish, a casual seeming museum-goer with a secret that ends the episode with a twist.
After that episode, Wright appeared as Shuri in Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War and then every MCU film involving the Wakandans afterwards. And with Chadwick Boseman’s untimely death, Wright inherited the title role of the franchise in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Alice Eve
Alice Eve has had a great career even before her stints on Black Mirror and the MCU, appearing in franchises like Night at the Museum and Star Trek. Eve starred alongside Bryce Dallas-Howard in “Nosedive,” one of the best episodes in Black Mirror, where she plays Dallas-Howard’s vain and insulting friend.
Two years later, Eve appeared in the Netflix show Iron Fist. Eve joined season 2 as “Typhoid Mary” Walker, a vigilante superhero who was tortured in Sokovia to the point where she has two personalities – her sweet personality and a dangerous, malevolent side.
Wyatt Russell
In the season 3 episode “Playtest,” Wyatt Russell plays a wayward single man, traveling the globe and ignoring calls from his mother. He accepts an offer to test a new virtual reality game in exchange for some money, but when he enters the horror game, it begins to feel like he’s trapped. Russell plays “Cooper” as a lost but ultimately kind person, and it makes the audience care about what happens to him as the Black Mirror character receives one of the worst endings in the show’s entirety.
Russell also has the notable distinction of being a part of Disney+ MCU television series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Russell plays the U.S. Government approved Captain America, and his character’s version is a company man who is willing to do some unsavory actions to complete a mission.
Hannah John-Kamen
Another actor who appeared in a small role on Black Mirror before landing a larger one in a later season, Hannah John-Kamen was the second lead in “Playtest,” a particularly frightening episode where a man is trapped in a virtual haunted house that starts to get too real. John-Kamen plays a woman who may or may not be real in the house.
In the MCU, she plays another character who seems to be in and out of reality as well. John-Kamen is Ghost in Ant-Man and the Wasp, a villain who can not stop phasing in and out of reality and is threatening to disappear forever. She does an incredible job playing a character desperately willing to do anything to stay alive.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
“San Junipero,” which is season 3’s fourth episode in Black Mirror, is one of the rare episodes from the show that does not end in a dark and psychologically terrifying manner. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays the young avatar of an elderly woman that falls in love with another avatar.
Her ability to play a dream girl with no worries, but a sensitive soul is impressive. It is a sweet and heart-aching story that gives both characters happy endings. Then in 2021, Mbatha-Raw appeared in the Disney+ show Loki as Ravonna Renslayer, an ambitious TVA hunter responsible for overseeing Loki’s variant investigation.
Miley Cyrus
Black Mirror season 5, episode 3, titled “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too” stars Miley Cyrus in a role that saw her playing multiple versions of herself. Cyrus plays a funhouse version of herself as “Ashley O,” a popstar who wants to explore her music more but is held back by her managerial team.
Cyrus has experienced the stresses and pressures of stardom from her early days in Hannah Montana, and she expresses those feelings well in the episode. She also had a brief cameo at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 during the stingers. Sylvester Stallone’s Ravager forms up his own team of Guardians, and one of them is a robot mask, voiced by an uncredited Miley Cyrus. But her distinct, husky voice is easy to identify.
Benedict Wong
Benedict Wong appears in the final episode of season 3 of Black Mirror, “Hated in the Nation.” This is a noir-like episode about robotic bees that are used to kill people in society when online discourse turns against them. Wong has a smaller role as one of the detectives on the case, but he does have an important scene at the end of the episode, begging the villain to turn off the device.
The same year he appeared in the Black Mirror episode, Wong also appeared as Wong in Doctor Strange. Since then, Wong has become something like the Nick Fury of Phase 4, appearing in cameos across many films and tying them all together. His comedic delivery of lines and more grounded and human personality have made him a beloved superhero even if he only appears for minutes at a time.
