Westworld Season 2 Trailer Brings The Reckoning
Contains spoilers for Westworld season 1
Welcome back to Westworld.
HBO has dropped a brand new trailer for the upcoming second season of Westworld, and it's all kinds of intense.
Set to an orchestral version of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box," the trailer depicts the growing struggles the Westworld hosts face, hits all the major narrative threads left hanging after the first season, and promises that the reckoning is here.
We watch as Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood) attempts to convince Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) that all hosts have worth, Teddy Flood (James Marsden) laments the fact that he and Dolores have "ridden for 10 miles" on horseback and have only witnessed violence and bloodshed, and Westworld host Maeve Millay (Thandie Newton) shows that she still hopes to find her daughter.
We also see a quick flash of a figure from the mysterious Delos-run park ShogunWorld, and hear The Man in Black (Ed Harris) crooning, "I'm gonna burn this whole thing to the ground" as he walks toward a door tucked into the side of a mountain. This seems to be a clear nod to something Westworld co-showrunner Jonathan Nolan recently revealed: the producers of the series have referred to the second season as "The Door."
"If the first season was a journey inward, [the second season] is a journey outward," Nolan explained. "This is a search for what is else is beyond the park, and what else is in the park. Are there more parks? How big is the park? What's beyond the park? We think of our seasons as discrete components in the series, to the point where we've named our seasons. The first season was called 'The Maze.' The second season is called 'The Door.'"
The trailer ends on a spine-chilling note: Dolores smiles at Bernard and asks, "Why on Earth would you ever be frightened of me?"
Take a look above.
This new look follows after HBO unveiled the twisty first trailer for season 2 and an equally intriguing season 2 teaser, which hinted that fans might finally learn where the adults-only theme park is located. That promo clip also featured The Man in Black making another eerie declaration: "They wanted a place hidden from God. A place they could sin in peace. We had something else in mind entirely." His words were a clear indication that the new season of Westworld will reveal the true purpose of the park: it's exclusively for Delos Destinations Inc. and its investors.
As evidenced in the new trailer, plenty more characters will return for Westworld season 2, including Westworld programmer Elsie Hughes (Shannon Woodward); security chief Ashley Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth); Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson), Delos' executive director of the board; Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman), the arrogant lead writer at the park; Peter Abernathy (Louis Herthum), Dolores' father; and Clementine Pennyfeather (Angela Sarafyan), the brothel madam who will be forever changed.
Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins), however, is one character you shouldn't expect to see. Dolores murdered him in the season 1 finale, and he isn't expected to pop back up on screen. Fans will see a younger version of Ford played by a different actor in flashback sequences.
Season 2 will also introduce a handful of fresh faces to the Westworld cast, like Katja Herbers' Grace, a seasoned Westworld guest; Neil Jackson's Nicholas, a charming man who finds himself in dangerous uncharted territory; Gustaf Skarsgård's Karl Strand, a white-collar man working in a comfortable field; Fares Fares' Antoine Costa, a tech expert; Jonathan Tucker's Major Craddock, a commanding military officer; Betty Gabriel's Maling, a new Westworld park enforcer; and Peter Mullan's James Delos, the founder of (you guessed it) Delos. Hiroyuki Sanada and Zahn McClarnon fill out the new recruits.
Westworld season 2 is set to premiere on April 22 on HBO.