Black Mirror casts Anthony Mackie and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II for season 5

Netflix’s Black Mirror has begun casting for the fifth season of the sci-fi anthology series and Deadline reports the first actors to join are Anthony Mackie (Avengers: Infinity War) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman).

Production on the fifth season of Black Mirror was pushed back due to their work on the interactive choose-your-own adventure special Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. Series creator and writer Charlie Brooker said of the delay “We knew going into it that it would be difficult and challenging and more complicated than a normal film that we would do. Even then, we underestimated. As the story expanded, I like to say that the story got longer and it got wider. So the whole thing started expanding a bit like an inflatable life raft in a small room. We knew going into it that this would impact our time, but it hasn’t stopped us from doing other films. I think it’s fair to say that it took us more time and effort than we had initially anticipated.”

The roles Mackie and Abdul-Mateen have been cast in are currently unknown, and it’s not clear if they’ll even appear in the same episode. Other actors who have appeared throughout Black Mirror’s past seasons include Jon Hamm, Bryce Dallas Howard, Kelly Macdonald, Jimmi Simpson, Jesse Plemons, Hayley Atwell and Letita Wright.

SEE ALSO: Black Mirror: Every Episode Ranked from Worst to Best

Black Mirror is an anthology series that taps into our collective unease with the modern world, with each stand-alone episode a sharp, suspenseful tale exploring themes of contemporary techno-paranoia leading to an unforgettable – and sometimes unsettling – conclusion. Without questioning it, technology has transformed all aspects of our lives; in every home; on every desk; in every palm – a plasma screen; a monitor; a Smartphone – a Black Mirror reflecting our 21st Century existence back at us. The series is created and written by Charlie Brooker, and executive produced by Brooker and Annabel Jones.

The first four seasons of Black Mirror are available to stream now via Netflix.