What You Need to Know About "Westworld" Season 2

HBO superfans who were feeling saddened by the impending end of "Game of Thrones" found great solace in "Westworld." As expected, the epic sci-fi ensemble drama ended its first season with great success and left fans wanting more. Here's what we know about Season 2, but warning: spoilers.

Westworld was an instant hit, earning an official renewal (opens in new tab) from HBO in November 2016, a few weeks before the season one finale in December of that year. But even as news of the renewal broke, it was clear that it would be a long wait for Season 2.

In an interview with Variety (opens in new tab), "Westworld" creator Jonathan Nolan confirmed the show's long lead time for a second season and explained why it is worth the wait.

"It won't air until 2018.

"In the movie business, the best you can hope for with a movie franchise is to have the next one in two or three years. So really with that schedule, we're doing well."

Den of Geek (opens in new tab) predicted a fall 2018 premiere date (specifically October 7, 2018 based on the season 1 premiere date), but that turned out to be an incorrect guess.HBO has announced the actual premiere date of the second season, April 2018 22nd, was confirmed in a stunning Super Bowl ad (opens in new tab).

Season 1 ended with a literal bang when Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) fired her gun to kill Ford (Anthony Hopkins), but fans were divided on what that meant for his character's future (more on this issue for more information, see "Fan Theories" below). According to the creators of "Westworld," Ford truly died from the heart. But that doesn't mean Hopkins won't appear in Season 2.

"I was very fortunate to have had a great season with Anthony Hopkins. I loved working with him," Nolan told Entertainment Weekly (opens in new tab).

"I'm well aware that this show, where it's going, as far as the characters, plays with a more advanced set of rules than other [projects] I've worked on, in terms of death and resurrection. So I would say this.

Meanwhile, Evan Rachel Wood is eager to return for Season 2 (direct quote (opens in new tab)): and Ed Harris says his incarnation of "The Man in Black" will be "involved" (opens in new tab) despite being shot in the previous season finale He states. This also means that at least some (or at least one) of the humans spotted at the party in Ford's new "Westworld" storyline will survive the android attack. Jeffrey Wright, who plays Bernard, also told Rotten Tomatoes (open in new tab) that "it's a long game."

Fans have speculated for months that Shannon Woodward, who plays fan favorite Elsie, might also return for season two, despite her apparent death in season one; in an interview with Entertainment Weekly (new tab to open), co-creator Lisa Joy said of Elsie (and Stubbs, played by Luke Hemsworth), "We know where they're going and we'll get there." In addition to that big hint from Joy, Elsie also appeared on HBO's Delos website (opens in new tab) a few months ago, and some fans believe she is still alive.

More recently, Elsie fans have even more reason to rejoice: she appeared in the cast listings for the first episode of season 2 on IMDb (opens in new tab).

Another actor whose fate fans are eager to learn is Jimmi Simpson, who plays a younger version of the character played by Ed Harris. Simpson has sent mixed messages about a possible return, saying in an interview with Vanity Fair (open in new tab), "Right now, I'm done at the end of season one. 0]

However, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter (opens in new tab), he said, "Yes, it is. Nothing is permanent. But I think it's possible." Nevertheless, Simpson is also listed on the IMDb (opens in new tab) cast list for Season 2, Episode 1.

Meanwhile, the rest of the main cast (especially Thandie Newton as Maeve and James Marsden as Teddy) have appeared in trailer footage, and it is unlikely they are going anywhere soon.

According to Ed Harris, filming for Season 2 began in Utah in the summer of 2017." We are doing 10 episodes. We probably won't start shooting until June or July," he told Entertainment Weekly (opens in new tab), later adding, "They have very specific plans for season two. Last season was two weeks; next season will be a month."

Aside from Harris' tidbits about Utah, there's no word yet on locations for Season 2, but don't expect to see many of the same places that were shown in Season 1.

"We weren't going to stay in one place," Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter (open in new tab). 'I don't want to shoot on the same set for 10 years. I want to blow up the set and move on to another part of the story."

New images teasing "Park 2" hint at Shogun World (previously billed as "Samurai World"), a mock-up of Japan. However, it is unclear whether Shogun World will even appear in Season 2, much less whether scenes there were filmed in Japan.

With its inherent mystery and epic scale, Westworld is the perfect place for fan theories and speculation. Here are some of the biggest theories that could be addressed in Season 2.

Many speculate that Ford will return as a human or host. You have no doubt noticed that the manufacturing machine in Ford's secret underground lab seemed to be hard at work throughout Season 1 manufacturing an unknown host. Naturally, one of the most popular theories is that Ford was making a host version of himself, which has two spin-off theories: 1. Dolores actually shot the host Ford at the end of the show's first season; 2. The "real" Ford is dead, but through the host doppelgänger continue to live.

The creators were asked about this possibility in a Facebook Live (open in new tab) session, and while they called the question "really, really good," they did not give a definitive answer, insisting only that Ford's sacrifice was "real." Hmmm.

Sub-theories about Ford's possible resurrection suggest that he may not have been human and may instead have been Arnold's first host (open in new tab). This is interesting, but less wildly speculative than the idea that Ford created a host version of himself.

At this point, the existence of other parks is more than just a theory. It was practically confirmed in the finale when Maeve received a note about the whereabouts of the daughter host: "Park 1, Sector 15, Zone 3."

If there is a Park 1, it stands to reason that there is at least a Park 2, maybe more. The show's creators have said that we will not see the Roman world or the Medieval World (open in new tab) (other worlds featured in the 1973 film Westworld), but the General World was heavily teased at the end of Season 1.

"We're definitely forewarned that there are other worlds," Joy explained to Entertainment Weekly (opens in new tab)." How many other worlds there are and what the nature of the other worlds are will be explored more in Season 2."

"We're going to be looking at a lot of different worlds.

HBO recently registered (open in new tab) both exploresamuraiworld.com and exploresshogunworld.com, so we will likely see one of those in Season 2. Again, this may be it:

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