Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker hints that all the series' episodes might take place in the same universe. This is a notion many fans have suspected for a long time care of various Easter egg references to previous stories that have popped up over the seasons. In the past, though, Brooker has usually kind of brushed the idea off, and downplayed the references as being nothing more than a bit of fun for eagle-eyed viewers.

Indeed, it would be hard to explain how some episodes could logically be taking place in the same setting given how some technologies shown to be ubiquitous in one episode are nowhere to be found in others. Still, it's a cool idea, and one fans took to due to rarely attempted in anthologies (American Horror Story has characters from past seasons return for more recent ones, but that's a step below).

Related: Black Mirror Season 4 Trailer

Despite his past statements, it appears that Brooker might be softening to the idea of an explicitly connected Black Mirror universe, at least judging by remarks made during a recent interview with THR. When asked about whether the various Easter eggs mean that every episode takes place in the same world, Brooker said the references have become more powerful over time:

"My answer to that has changed, actually. It always used to be that it’s just a bit of fun. But then sometimes we’ve done some things where we did explicitly refer to other episodes. I think the rule is that when a character says something that explicitly refers to something else, it’s canonical. Also, they follow the same dream universe. That’s the other thing that I tend to say. There’s a line in “Hated in the Nation” where someone refers to a crime that happened in “White Bear."

While that's not total confirmation that all of Black Mirror's twisted tales take place in the same universe, it's definitely a suggestion things could go that way. Assuming the shared universe is real, the episode that would probably be hardest to explain is season 1's "Fifteen Million Merits," which clearly seems to be taking place in some kind of dystopia where the average person is forced to work an assigned job, and live in what basically amounts to a box-shaped video screen. Of course, that could be explained away by saying that only some episodes are linked, with some their own adventures.

During the interview, Brooker was also asked if he was considering doing a sequel to the much loved and surprisingly uplifting season 3 episode "San Junipero." While he - along with fellow producer Annabel Jones - have considered the possibility, they're hesitant to try making a direct follow-up as they feel that the story of death-crossed lovers Yorkie and Kelly is finished. However, they're not ruling out some type of continuation, although it might not be presented as a normal episode of Black Mirror.

More: The Black Mirror Episodes That Deserve a Sequel

Black Mirror season 4 will premiere on Netflix before the end of 2017.

Source: THR