The mysterious fifth season of Netflix’s sci-fi anthology Black Mirror casts MCU star Anthony Mackie and DCEU star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. While not quite a pop culture phenomenon on the level of say Stranger Things, Black Mirror is certainly one of the most popular and well-regarded original series on Netflix. That’s a bit amusing, if only because Black Mirror wasn’t designed from the ground up as a Netflix project, and became a Netflix original after seasons 1 and 2 had already aired on the U.K.’s Channel 4.
That aside, Black Mirror is now definitely best known as a Netflix production, and continues to increase in notoriety with each passing season. Season 3 premiered in October 2016, featuring the Emmy-winning episode “San Junipero.” Season 4 followed in December 2017, taking viewers aboard the “USS Callister.” Most fans expected season 5 - which entered production in early 2018 - to debut before the end of last year, but instead, Netflix and the Black Mirror team dropped the bombshell that was Bandersnatch, an interactive Black Mirror movie.
Unfortunately, since Bandersnatch’s release, there’s been zero official updates on Black Mirror season 5, outside of Netflix confirming that Bandersnatch was indeed not it. Miley Cyrus herself confirmed that she’s set to appear in an upcoming episode, but that’s all that’s known. Now though, Deadline reports that Black Mirror season 5 has cast both Anthony Mackie and Yayha Abdul-Mateen II, although details beyond that remain scarce.
Mackie has quite the film and TV resume at this point, but is probably best known for his role as Falcon/Sam Wilson in the MCU. He’s so far played the heroic character in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers: Infinity War. He’s also expected to return for Avengers: Endgame. Mateen recently joined the DCEU as the villain Black Manta in Aquaman, and is expected to play a larger role in Aquaman 2. He’s also set to appear in HBO’s Watchmen series, and as the titular villain in the upcoming remake of Candyman.
Netflix has, of course, declined to comment on Deadline’s report, so anything beyond their casting is unknown. It’s unknown what characters Mackie and Mateen will play, or even whether they’ll appear in the same season 5 episode of Black Mirror. Regardless, both men are great additions to the season 5 cast, and will likely fit nicely into the dark, bleak world creator Charlie Brooker has crafted. Now, here’s hoping Netflix sees fit to reveal a release date for season 5 sometime soon, as fans are getting impatient.
More: Times Black Mirror Went Too Far
Source: Deadline
