Bandersnatch
The new Black Mirror movie, Bandersnatch, will be released on December 28, likely at 3 a.m. Eastern if Netflix sticks with the time that it releases all its other movies and series. Here is everything we know about the new Netflix movie so far, including the trailer, cast, run time, and Easter eggs found in the trailer.
Trailer & Easter Eggs & Bandersnatch Synopsis
First, here’s the trailer.
Don’t do it. t.co/dZUeyxW50x
You might notice a few Easter eggs right away. Here’s a White Bear reference in the trailer.
Netflix
You can also see a Metalhead poster in the trailer. But there are more Easter eggs outside of the trailer too. Like many other Black Mirror episodes, Bandersnatch already has ties to a previous episode in the series. In Season 3’s Playtest, a reference was made to a UK game called Bandersnatch that was released in 1984 (which is also the year that Playtest took place.) The game is also referenced on the cover of a magazine in the episode.
Bandersnatch is also the name of a creature in Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.
Bandersnatch also happens to be the name of a game that was never actually released, but was developed in 1984:
Eventually the rights were sold and the game became Brataccas, a game about a genetic engineer trying to create an elite soldier. According to Wikipedia: “Brataccas is believed to be the remains of the much-hyped vaporware project Bandersnatch, which was partially developed by Imagine Software. Having been talked about in the press for some time before finally emerging, Brataccas saw considerable coverage in the computer press. It was generally reviewed poorly due to significant control problems, although the graphics were widely praised.”
The synopsis for the trailer about Black MIrror’s Bandersnatch on YouTube reads: “In 1984, a young programmer begins to question reality as he adapts a sprawling fantasy novel into a video game and soon faces a mind-mangling challenge. welcome back.”
On the Korea Media Rating Board listing, discussed on Reddit here, a synopsis reads: “A young programmer makes a fantasy novel into a game. Soon, reality and virtual world are mixed and start to create confusion.” This is very similar to the official synopsis.
This May Be the Interactive Episode
All signs point to this being the long-rumored interactive, choose-your-own adventure episode. The trailer talks about changing your past and changing your mind. We see him taking pills and throwing away the pills during the trailer.
In addition, the episode is listed on Netfix as being 90 minutes long, but a listing on the Korea Media Rating Board shows Bandersnatch as being 312 minutes long. This might account for all the various story angles and branches if this is indeed the choose-your-own-adventure styled episode.
Netflix revealed earlier that one of its Black Mirror episodes for Season 5 would be an interactive choose-your-own-adventure type of episode. Fans are hoping this might be it, and that’s why it needs to be longer than a typical Netflix Black Mirror episode. Bloomberg reported that a choose-your-own-adventure style episode would be part of Season 5, debuting near the end of 2018.
Will Poulter Is Part of the Bandersnatch Cast
Reddit/gymnol7412Bandersnatch cast photo
This photo from the trailer (and earlier found by a viewer on Reddit) seems to show Will Poulter in the picture, although this has not been confirmed. Will Poulter is an English actor known for Maze Runner, Detroit, War Machine, The Revenant, Glassland, We’re the Millers, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, School of Comedy, and other appearances.
A CV found online for Poulter listed Bandersnatch as one of his credits and said he would play the role of Colin Ritman.
Other fans are wondering if the person on the left in the picture might be RJ Mitte, known for his role as Walter White Jr. on Breaking Bad. However, other fans think this is Fionn Whitehead, who was listed in an article about Bandersnatch on Princestone that was later taken down. Whitehead is known for playing the protagonist in Dunkirk. The post mentioned that Will Poulter would also be in the episode, and Craig Parkinson. It was directed by David Slade, according to the now-deleted post. You can see a discussion about the post on Reddit here.
David Slade previously directed Black Mirror‘s Metalhead episode, and also directed this special film.