'Black Mirror' Season 5: "Bandersnatch" Release Date Teased by Netflix

Fans have been eagerly awaiting news about a Black Mirror Season 5’s release date, and there’s reason to believe it could arrive before the end of the year.

First, there was that “leak” in the form a since-deleted tweet from Netflix’s NX account that teased a possible release date for a new episode titled “Bandersnatch.” Now, a new page has popped up on Netflix’s streaming site, leading fans to believe that date wasn’t a mistake at all.

If you search Netflix’s streaming site for “Black Mirror,” you’ll come across a listing for Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, along with the page for the first four seasons. As you can see in the screenshot below, it’s labeled as “A Netflix Film” with “Be right back.” in the description, which is a reference to the Season 2 episode of the same name (The Black Mirror seasons are labeled as a “Netflix Original.”)

There’s no trailer (yet). Instead, the image next to the title comes from the teaser that accompanied Netflix’s March announcement that the series had been renewed for Season 5.

This may confirm speculation that fans will be getting a new movie-length episode of Black Mirror on December 28, which is the date Netflix accidentally tweeted in early December. However, other dates in that tweet turned out to be incorrect, and Netflix’s current “Bandersnatch” listing doesn’t mention a release date at all.

While it’s possible that Netflix deleted the tweet because the schedule changed, it’s also possible that Black Mirror wasn’t supposed to be on the list. Perhaps the service wanted the release to be a holiday surprise. Since the episode now has a slot on the site, it seems likely that it will drop before 2018 is over.

There has also been some speculation that Black Mirror: Bandersnatch could be the choose-your-own-adventure story that Bloomberg reported could be out “before the end of this year.” That kind of episode would certainly be special enough to warrant a separate release from the rest of Season 5.

This wouldn’t be the first time Netflix released a new program with little (or no) warning either. In February, the trailer for The Cloverfield Paradox aired during the Super Bowl and revealed it would be released after the game.

Black Mirror Seasons 1-4 are now streaming on Netflix.

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