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‘Westworld’ Season 2 Cast And Release Date: HBO Confirms Renewal Of The Hit New Show [Spoilers]

By Josh Moorcroft
Published on: 21:52 PST, Dec 4, 2016

HBO’s latest fantasy drama Westworld has seen a level of success close to that of the network’s leading show, Game of Thrones. Last night’s explosive Season 1 finale has left many fans asking if and when the show will return for a second season. According to Heavy, HBO has confirmed that Westworld will return for a second season, however, details around that second season are still a little thin on the ground. So when will Westworld Season 2 be released and which cast members from the original season will be returning?

When will Westworld return?

Fans expecting a second season of Westworld next year are likely to be left disappointed. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, HBO’s programming president Casey Bloys confirmed that Westworld likely won’t return until 2018, citing “how big the world is and what goes into shooting it.” However, that doesn’t necessarily mean fans will have to wait until October 2018 for the show’s second season, as HBO could be preparing to release Westworld Season 2 in early 2018.

That being said, it’s worth remembering that HBO has managed to turn around a new season of Game of Thrones every year – which is a show considerably huge in scale. However, HBO recently confirmed that they’d push the release date of Game of Thrones Season 7 back to late 2017 in order to provide more production time.

Which cast members are returning?

HBO is yet to release the official cast list for Westworld Season 2, however, the first season’s finale did provide some key information about who will be present in Season 2. Following the events of that season finale, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), Maeve (Thandie Newton), Teddy (James Marsden), and Bernard/Arnold (Jeffrey Wright) are all expected to be making a return.

However, perhaps more surprisingly, Ed Harris has confirmed that he too will be making a return in the next season, either as the Man in Black, or William, saying “I was just talking to Jonah Nolan last night, who’s a creator of this thing with his wife Lisa Joy, and yeah, they’re doing another season. They’re going to do 10 more episodes, and I will be involved.” What Harris means by “involved” remains to be seen, however, it could very well be that his character appears in flashbacks through the series.

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What will the season be about?

In a clip released after the first season finale, co-creator Jonathan Nolan gave a glimpse as to what fans can expect in the second season. He said that if the first season was defined by control, he’d define the second season by chaos, saying, “I think that’s part of what we come to understand Ford has been planning all along. Ford has set in motion what he thinks is a plan. The nature of that plan is something we explore in the second season: what his intentions are. Are they to let Dolores and the other hosts escape? Are they simply to teach the human guests a lesson?”

However, as aforementioned, fans will have to wait until 2018 before they find out where Westworld is headed next. That being said, following its first season, comparisons are already being drawn between the success of the show’s first season and that of Game of Thrones– which has become an international hit for HBO. Crucially, though, HBO will need to ensure that Season 2 of Westworld meets the expectations of fans following the show’s incredibly successful first season.

[Featured Image by HBO]

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