Just before last night’s widely watched Game of Thrones finale, HBO pulled a one-two punch and released two trailers to remind people of what they would be missing if they cancelled their HBO subscription following the ending of Game of Thrones. The first trailer was a sizzle reel of all the upcoming shows set to premiere this year and in early 2020, and the second trailer was specific to one of those shows planned for 2020, Westworld. For fans of the show, this gap of two years will feel familiar as it was also nearly two years between seasons one and two (2016 and 2018), but this season seems to establish an entirely different plot than previous seasons.
The trailer follows new character, portrayed by Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) trying to figure out how best to live in a future bordering on dystopian, but also eerily familiar. As viewers can surmise from previous seasons, this future society suffers from enormous wealth inequality, and in this season we see those at the other end of the spectrum, and how they cope with that. Viewers are gifted one recognizable face at the end, a glimpse of Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) in severely different circumstances. Other big names set to join the cast include Lena Waithe, Scott Mescudi (Kid Cudi), Marshawn Lynch, and more according to PopSugar.
While season three is set to premiere in 2020, series creators J.J. Abrams, Lisa Joy, and Jonathan Nolan have mentioned that they are prepared to produce up to five seasons, maybe six. They put this out to the public as early as 2016 via Entertainment Weekly, citing it as the reason it was so important to get season one right, in that the mythos behind the Westworld universe had to be built in a structured, story-driven fashion. Joy has stated, “It’s a really complex interlocking story.” While season one and two actor James Marsden explained the situation similarly, having said, “It wasn’t about getting the first ten [episodes] done, it was about mapping out what the next five or six years are going to be.” So, while season three is set to drop sometime next year, there may be more story left to tell.
Westworld seasons one and two are available to stream with an HBO subscription.