Jonathan Nolan On Westworld Season 2: We Like Surprising People, Assume Nothing

HBO’s Westworld may now be off the air – at least, until we get a second season – but that hasn’t stopped it from still being the hottest topic of discussion almost everywhere you turn. With the network giving us the chance to revisit the mind-bending series thanks to a special marathon this weekend, the chatter around the show is still going strong as fans attempt to figure out all of the questions that the rather excellent finale left us with.

It’s going to be a long wait for Westworld to return unfortunately, as it probably won’t be back until 2018, but thankfully, the creators and cast have already begun teasing us with what to expect. Evan Rachel Wood mentioned that the show won’t even really begin until its second outing, while showrunners Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan have been chatting up the expanded universe that we’ll soon begin to see. One that will no doubt include Samurai World, among others.

Now, the latter has decided to tease fans once again, this time in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. When the outlet asked him if it’s safe to assume that Anthony Hopkins will not be back as Robert Ford, given the events of the finale, Nolan said the following:

“We were very lucky to have one amazing season with Anthony Hopkins. We loved working with him. As for the show, where it goes, the characters — we’ve well established we’re playing in a more advanced ruleset in terms of death and resurrection than other [projects] I’ve worked on. So I would say: Assume nothing. I think with this show we like surprising people. And we like playing with them. We’ve established the show can track forward and backward in time. … As we’ve established, the hosts can’t distinguish their memories and realities. There is always an opportunity to revisit some of these characters.”

While we don’t expect to see Hopkins back on Westworld as a series regular (he’s got a very busy schedule, after all), we wouldn’t be too surprised if he pops up several times throughout the next season. It’s pretty obvious that Nolan and Joy aren’t done with him just yet and while his main story arc was completed by the finale, there’s still a hell of a lot that they can explore with Ford in regards to his childhood and even his early days building the park.

Honestly, it’d be a real shame if they didn’t give us anymore backstory on him and would no doubt be a missed opportunity for the show. Given how well the first season panned out though, there’s probably nothing to worry about. Joy and Nolan know what they’re doing and even though it’s still very early days in regards to Westworld‘s sophomore outing, we have no doubt that it’ll be every bit as thrilling, engrossing and jaw-dropping as what came before it.