Black Mirror's Will Poulter Talks Colin Ritman's Glow-Up in 'Plaything,' 'Bandersnatch' Theories

More than six years ago, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch introduced the world to Colin Ritman. Portrayed by Will Poulter, the storied game designer was brilliant, self-assured and, in more ways than one, ahead of his time. In the 2018 interactive film written by Charlie Brooker and directed by David Slade that let viewers dictate where the story went with just the press of a button, Colin was a mentor to up-and-coming programmer Stefan Butler (Fionn Whitehead), who just started working at Mohan Thakur (Asim Chaudhry)'s gaming company Tuckersoft. Colin's fate — including whether he lived or died — depended on viewers' decisions for Stefan.

Well, some version of Colin must have survived across the alternate realities, because the game designer appears in Black Mirror Season 7's episode "Plaything." Helmed once again by Brooker and Slade, "Plaything" follows murder suspect Cameron (older version portrayed by Peter Capaldi, younger version by Lewis Gribben) as he recounts a deadly incident from the '90s. And the story began with him stealing a new game called Thronglets that Colin had developed. The game's premise is simple: to nurture tiny animated creatures and grow their population. But Thronglets would eventually lead to more than one character's demise.

Poulter spoke to TV Guide about what the endings of Bandersnatch mean for Colin Ritman in "Plaything," the character's glow-up, and his views on technology being created to improve humanity.

TV Guide: Colin Ritman is back. How much did you and Charlie talk about what happened to him in the 10 years between the events of Bandersnatch and the flashback in "Plaything"? 
Will Poulter: My conversations were split between Charlie and David Slade, which was great because we could talk with specificity about how he's evolved as a character over approximately 10 years. With Bandersnatch set in the '80s — how has his look, his attitudes, his mental well-being changed over the course of that time? And so now you find him in the '90s, and there's a few recognizable aesthetic changes. But as a personality, he's still the same. He's still very particular, quite socially spiky, but [a] hyper-intelligent individual.

Speaking of the aesthetic, I have to ask about Colin's glow-up. What did you most want to show through this styling transformation?
Poulter: The thing we always spoke about with Colin from the beginning — across all the departments who do such a great job in terms of developing his look — is that he's inadvertently fashionable. If he looks cool, it's not for vanity's sake or because he's chasing a trend, it's kind of accidental. And he's more about form and function than he is fashion. I think there are certain cultures that appeal to him even in the early '90s, prior to when other people might have been drawing influence — a lot of his style is influenced by Japan, and probably Copenhagen. He is probably an admirer of the craftsmanship and the innovation in both of those cultures. And so we pulled inspiration from that area. And then the dyed hair would be the dyed hair regardless of whether it was the 1990s, the 2000s, or 2050 — he's never going to not dye his hair, it's just his thing. And the fact that it wasn't spiky anymore, it was a subtle nod to the fact that it's not the '80s anymore. It's the '90s, and maybe he's too busy now to gel it up.

That's fascinating. Is that something you relate to, being inadvertently fashionable? 
Poulter: I work with a great stylist called Rose Ford, and she luckily keeps me on the right line of fashionable. If it was left up to me, I'd probably fall to the other side too often.

There were so many different endings for Colin in Bandersnatch. Is there one that you personally chose in your mind as "what actually happened" to help you in the continuation of playing the character? Or do you believe any of the endings — where Colin wasn't explicitly killed — could've led to this timeline in "Plaything"?
Poulter: I think so, because I'd like to take Colin at his word, this idea that, if you fail, you just try again. So I'd like to think that even if he was killed in Bandersnatch, that could have preceded what we see here [in "Plaything"]. I do like the idea that Colin is a bit of a time traveler. And that was another thing that we tried to allude to in [his] look. This idea that he's a little bit futuristic — he looks like he's of that era, but there's also signs that he spent time in other eras. And there were cool Easter eggs in Bandersnatch — there are records from time periods in the future in his apartment. There are little things that suggest he's time-traveled, if you look really carefully.

So even in one of the timelines where he died in Bandersnatch, the events of "Plaything" could occur in that same timeline? 
Poulter: I think so. And Thakur just doesn't know it. 

Do you think he purposefully left his office so that Cameron could steal Thronglets?
Poulter: What I think Colin recognizes in [Cameron] is something of himself and this idea that you have to break the rules, you have to challenge the status quo, you have to question everything in order to really achieve progress — and in order to break through both digital and physical barriers. So I think, in a way, without kind of winking at him — like, "I'm leaving the room now" — he facilitates that for him. And David and I spoke a lot about this all-knowing quality to Colin. Not in a way that's arrogant, but more factual than anything else.

Colin gives a compelling speech about how he wants to create software that improves us as human beings, not "caveman stuff." What are your personal thoughts about his views? Do you think they're too idealistic or do you think it's more important now than ever for engineers to have that goal when creating new software?
Poulter: Yeah, I loved that line. That was the thing that probably I was most attracted to in the script, actually. This notion that if we're not thinking about the social application of our work in any field, then, to quote Colin, what is the f***ing point? I think he also recognizes that Cameron represents the emerging generation, and so it only makes sense to pass that message on to him. I fully align with that idea, and it's kind of what I love about Black Mirror. In the most entertaining way, in a way that never really feels preachy or self-righteous and lofty, there are brilliant messages that we can kind of apply to the real world in virtually every episode.

It's a big year for you. In addition to Black Mirror, you have projects releasing including the A24 films Death of a Unicorn and Warfare. What's your biggest hope for how your work impacts people? 
Poulter: I really hope, in the spirit of Colin, it improves people's experience of real life a little bit. Whether that makes them feel a little bit happier or offers them a chance for escapism, whether it inspires stimulating discussion or shapes attitudes in a more positive way.

Finally, what's your personal experience with games like Thronglets?
Poulter: I remember Tamagotchi being a huge trend at school. The Sims obviously comes to mind as being a particularly humanized experience. And I loved it. I think those games that encourage people to practice caretaking are so great, and long may they continue.

Black Mirror Season 7 is available to stream on Netflix.