We might get to see a lot more of Black Mirror's ''U.S.S. Callister''

By: H&I Staff     Posted: January 4, 2018, 4:45PM   

Image: Netflix

Netflix’s Black Mirror fans rejoiced this past weekend, when the release of the show’s fourth season dropped. The first episode —and possibly one of the most heavily publicized before its release — "U.S.S. Callister" featured a Star Trek–inspired storyline about a computer programmer named Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) who feels slighted over his lack of recognition over a multiplayer game that he helped create. In order to feel like he has some power over the coworkers he feels slighted by, he takes some DNA and traps them in a fan game based on an old show called Space Fleet, in which he’s the captain. He's certainly not a sympathetic captain and requires his crew to constantly sing his praises.

Minor spoilers ahead!

SyFy pointed out a number of homages to Star Trek: The Original Series within the episode, including the abundance of hair that Daly has when he’s in the game (much like the hairpiece William Shatner wore when his hair started thinning), Daly’s dramatic way of speaking and the fact that he kisses every woman on the ship. Not to mention, the groovy attire of the Space Fleet crew.

But we’re not here to discuss the parallels between Star Trek and "U.S.S. Callister." We’re here to talk about the fact that Trek fans who loved the episode might get another taste of it. According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Toby Haynes is interested in making a spin-off of the episode.

I was talking with Louise Sutton, who produced this and "Metalhead," and she cooked up a brilliant idea of spinning it off into a TV series. I’d love to do a TV series of "USS Callister" — it’s probably one of the best pilots for a space show ever. And I made it! So I’m keen to see it as a TV series. I think Charlie might revisit it as a Black Mirror. Whether I’m the one to do it, I don’t know. Being a fan of the show as much as I am, and being a part of making it, I’d love to work with that crew and cast again. It’s a gift for a director.

Co-star Cristin Milioti has already told The Hollywood Reporter that she’s totally game to film a spin-off. "I would die if they turned this into a spin-off series because I do want to see that group of people figure it out, because it’s so real," she said. "They’re very funny and very dysfunctional, but it’s also a group of coworkers from an office — it’s like The Office in space."