All her co-stars returned for Black Mirror’s USS Callister sequel, so why didn’t Michaela Coel?

I was ecstatic to dive headfirst into Black Mirror’s USS Callister sequel, USS Callister: Into Infinity, but tell me why my girl Michaela Coel didn’t reprise her role as snarky tech worker Shania Lowry.

Back in season four of Black Mirror, which was when the first instalment of what we hope will be a USS Callister trilogy came out, Shania was a driving force behind Nanette Cole’s understanding of the twisted setting they were in. She’s also one of the few people who have appeared in more than one episode, first featuring as an airport worker in season three’s Nosedive.

As we know, Shania essentially sacrifices herself to save Nanette towards the end of USS Callister, being turned into a horrible creature known as arachnajax, but she does come back right at the end when the crew break into the public domain to live out their lives on the run.

With literally the entire cast returning for USS Callister: Into Infinity, including dead characters such as Karl Valdack, Robert Daly, and Walton, I thought Michaela Coel’s inclusion was practically a given. I was so wrong, and now I’m very sad.

Here’s why Michaela Coel didn’t return for Black Mirror

In the actual episode, it’s revealed that Shania was “blasted apart” in an earlier mission, and while this does add a sense of urgency to the crew’s mission, it seemed a little casual and reeked of behind-the-camera drama. Instead, the reason is incredibly mundane.

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“We do tell you exactly where she is. Unfortunately, she died on a mission. It’s quite quick. [One character] says, ‘Shania was blasted apart right in front of me two weeks ago and I can still smell her f***ing blood,'” Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker told Entertainment Weekly.

Ultimately, it came down to scheduling conflicts, but all hope is not lost because there is *hopefully* going to be a third instalment in Black Mirror’s future.

starting a petition for michaela coel to have a black mirror episode of her own pic.twitter.com/3kZJZrhlTi

— tori (@skinstrash) June 24, 2020

“We couldn’t get everyone’s schedules to align” for season 7, Charlie said, adding, “I’ve always been a fan. I think she’s wonderful. We’ve had her in two episodes before, it would be greedy to get her back for a third!”

It’s not immediately clear which project got in the way of Michaela Coel’s Black Mirror return, but she’s been very much booked and busy over the last few years. She featured pretty majorly in the Black Panther sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and the TV remake of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It could also be projects still in production, with The Christophers, First Day on Earth, and Mother Mary all on Michaela’s calendar, according to IMDb.

That answers that, but it’s still very sad.

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Featured image credit: Netflix