Reflecting on the future of his anthology series Black Mirror, writer/creator Charlie Brooker recently told Digital Spy that the franchise's loose format should guarantee it a long, long run. "I don't think there's anything to stop us," he said. "We could do one-offs, we could do an ongoing story, we could do spin-offs."
Possibly Brooker was dropping us a rather large hint, because mere days later, Netflix announced Little Black Mirror, the show's first ever officially sanctioned spin-off.
But like many of the terrifying tales of technology that Black Mirror has brought us, this announcement came with a surprising twist or two.
Related: Black Mirror team insist the show hasn't 'changed its sensibility' since moving to Netflix
Little Black Mirror would, we were told, comprise three "mini-stories" inspired by the dystopian universe of Brooker and Annabel Jones' series.
Originally planned for a staggered release on May 26, June 2 and June 6, Netflix revealed less than a week on from the original announcement that all three shorts would instead drop on June 10.
They'd also rebranded them, losing the Little Black Mirror tag in favour of the new title Stories From Our Future. (There's been no official word on why the project was renamed and the release dates shuffled, but it's curious that the original trailer advertising the project has also been pulled from YouTube.)
The shorts have been written, directed and scored by musician-actor Rudy Mancuso, making this spin-off the first piece of Black Mirror-related programming not to be written by Brooker since season one's 'The Entire History of You' in 2011. (Written by Jesse Armstrong, that Toby Kebbell-starring episode is in fact the *only* episode of Black Mirror not to be written by Brooker, ever.)
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"As a Black Mirror fan, it was a dream come true to produce this homage to celebrate the show," said Mancuso. "We approached this project with so much excitement and hope that fellow fans will enjoy watching it as much as we loved making it."
But that's not the only twist. Stories From Our Future was, initially at least, intended as a promotional tool, serving as part of the marketing campaign for Black Mirror's fifth season – specifically, its purpose was to boost awareness of the show in Latin America.
The shorts are inspired by ideas from popular YouTube personalities from across Latin American territories – including Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela – and, alongside Mancuso and Australian actress Maia Mitchell (The Fosters), feature appearances from Mexican vlogger Juanpa Zurita and Venezuelan-born internet celebrity Lele Pons.
Originally slated for release on the Netflix América Latina YouTube channel, they'll now be posted simultaneously on Mancuso, Pons and Zurita's respective YouTube accounts.
And, presuming Netflix hasn't changed its release plan along with the branding and launch date, Stories From Our Future is expected to be made available in Latin America only.
This was certainly the intention as of May 26, with Netflix confirming to Mashable that there were, at that stage, no plans to make the Spanish-language shorts available to the rest of the world. (Yes, in case you're wondering, it is possible to geo-lock YouTube content, making it accessible only in certain countries.)
The good news, of course, is that the fifth season of Black Mirror – very much the 'main course' – is almost upon us.
You can look forward to Miley Cyrus exploring the dark side of pop stardom in 'Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too', Avengers star Anthony Mackie playing one of three old friends who share a surprising reunion in 'Striking Vipers' and Andrew Scott starring as a cab driver with an agenda in 'Smithereens'.
Plenty of unsettling 'stories from our future' to be getting on with there.
Black Mirror season 5 launches tomorrow (Wednesday, June 5) on Netflix.
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