Michaela Coel
Michaela Coel (Photo: Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Are you ready to explore the real MCU? The Michaela Coel Universe, that is. At a virtual event earlier this week, the BBC previewed its upcoming slate of dramas, and also teased something new from the creator of Chewing Gum and I May Destroy You.

“It’s truly in Michaela’s head and it’s not for me to second guess that too much at this point,” BBC drama controller Piers Wenger told Deadline. “It’s at relatively early stages, but I wanted to let the fans of I May Destroy You know that there is a new show coming along.”

The 2020 series, which aired on HBO in the US, was based on Coel’s own experience of being drugged and raped while writing Chewing Gum. It was rapturously received on both sides of the Atlantic, and despite a mind-boggling shut-out at the Golden Globes, has been showered with awards and nominations elsewhere. And, honestly, if you haven’t seen it yet, stop reading now and just watch it.

Still, Coel and HBO have downplayed the possibility of a second season. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Coel is done with the world she created in the series. According to Wenger, the show she’s currently developing may share some connective tissue with I May Destroy You. “What relationship that show will have with the original series, [is for Michaela to decide],” he said. “There’s a relationship between Chewing Gum and I May Destroy You. There’s a through line to her thinking. I suspect there may be elements [of I May Destroy You] but it’s really too early to say anything specific.”

While it would be amazing to see a whole series devoted to characters like Terry (Weruche Opia) and Kwame (Paapa Essiedu), whatever Coel gives us next is sure to be another revelatory experience — no matter what universe it’s set in! As she told Variety recently, “I think that this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of using fiction to really bring audiences to quite personal, challenging and dark places and asking audiences to question the world around them.”

Tile credit: Michaela Coel (Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)