The British dystopian sci-fi television series Black Mirror put out the interactive film Bandersnatch in 2018—and there might eventually be a sequel. The movie, written by Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker and directed by David Slade, came out just a day after it was announced. In the film, viewers make choices for the main character—a programmer named Stefan Butler (Fionn Whitehead). Viewers guide Stefan as he attempts to adapt a fantasy “choose your own adventure” book into a video game in the 1980s, and instruct him as he interacts with characters including his father Peter (Craig Parkinson), famous video game designer Colin Ritman (Will Poulter), video game company owner Mohan Thakur (Asim Chaudhry), and his therapist Dr. Haynes (Alice Lowe).
In Bandersnatch, there are several levels of inception. The interactive film itself is a “choose your own adventure” game, centering on a young man making the same sort of game. Brooker, along with executive producer and co-creator Annabel Jones, were approached by Netflix about the project in 2017. Creating a non-linear script proved to be a complex endeavor. In fact, Brooker has said that the making of Bandersnatch took the effort of making four or five normal Black Mirror episodes.
Related: Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch: Why The Audience Never Had A Choice
Bandersnatch ended up garnering several awards and nominations, and even won two Primetime Emmy Awards. The movie is a different experience for each viewer, with the average viewing ending at 90 minutes and the quickest path ending after about 40 minutes. Overall, there are 150 minutes of unique footage divided into more than 200 segments—meaning that there are millions of possible paths the viewer can take. Sometimes, the same scene can be reached in different ways, but will present the viewer with different choices based on how they reached it. In some other cases, certain loops guide viewers to a specific narrative regardless of what decision they made. In the end, though, there are five “main” endings, 10-12 overall endings, and a few “golden egg” endings that are incredibly difficult to reach. Usually, when the viewer reaches an ending, they’re given an option to redo a past choice so they can see a different outcome.
How Black Mirror Could Make A Bandersnatch Sequel Work
Though making the original Bandersnatch proved to be complicated, a sequel—or just another separate interactive movie created by Black Mirror—could happen. Brooker hinted at the possibility of a sequel in early 2019, though nothing is in the works yet. In an interview with TVLine in January 2019, Brooker said: “Annabel and I both said at various points, ‘We’re not doing this ever again.’ But like someone who has gone through the horror of childbirth and has forgotten about it in time to conceive again, I started thinking, ‘Oh, there’s an idea! You could do this, or you could do that…’ I can’t work out how foolhardy that is, because forewarned is forearmed. You know things not to do, but you’d still end up in different pickles….” Jones added that it would be easier the second time around, since all of the specialized production tools have already been created.
And Poulter, who played Colin in Bandersnatch, spoke with NME in July 2020 and discussed potential ideas for a sequel. Poulter suggested that the character he played—who in some endings of the movie ends up dead—is a time traveler, and could reappear in Stefan’s life. He said: “I would love it if [Colin] showed up in full-on, ’80s regalia, but he was, in fact, in the present day, or somewhere in the future. That would be really fun.”
Overall, Bandersnatch was an exciting addition to the Black Mirror franchise, offering viewers a thrilling television experience that they’d likely go back to over and over again to get to all of the different endings. A sequel would surely be a hit with Netflix subscribers, though perhaps one set in a different time period with a new protagonist would be best, so as to offer fresh content and avoid conflicts with the original story. Maybe Stefan and Colin could appear as side characters, or just in passing. Or, objects like the boxes of cereal, the ash tray, or other items used throughout the original could show up in the sequel. After all, Black Mirror is constantly hiding Easter eggs in its episodes to connect the various stories to one another, suggesting that they all occur in a shared universe.
Next: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’s Post-Credits Ending – What Happens & How To Get It
