Everything to Know About Westworld’s Highly Anticipated Return for Season 4

Credit: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Everything to Know About Westworld's Highly Anticipated Return for Season 4

It's finally here! Season 4 of Westworld will be returning to HBO after more than two years — and the show continues to be more of a mystery than ever. During the explosive season 3 finale in 2020, viewers questioned Dolores' (Evan Rachel Wood) fate on the show as well as William's (Ed Harris) future after he was seemingly replaced by a version of the Man in Black. For the team behind the hit series, approaching a new season of Westworld is all about getting to raise the bar. "One of the fun things about me for the show, when Lisa [Joy] and I were talking about it way back when, was the ability of this show to shift genres every season, and the invitation to do it," creator Jonathan Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2020. "We felt we had an open invitation to play around, especially in this moment where TV is reinventing itself constantly, to have a show that reinvents itself season after season." At the time, Nolan highlighted that the genre got to change from one season to the next. "You have a Western, you have a samurai movie, you have war movies, you have science-fiction. There are all of the different versions of the future you have seen over the years in movies," he added. "We get to play around with all of that, and make text of all of that. So the idea that next season will feel different and distinct in genre from the previous seasons? Yes, that’s absolutely part of the structure of the show." In terms of world-building, Nolan noted that the full vision has been planned since they started working on the show. "When we were writing the pilot, we had this glorious period where we felt we needed to come up with a plan. The story laid itself out very neatly into chapters," he shared. "We have been talking about it from the beginning. We’re giving everybody a bit of a break, and obviously it’s a crazy moment right now. We have been talking about [season 4] for a long time." Even though the creative team chose to stay quiet about the upcoming story lines, Nolan teased that it wasn't necessarily the end of Wood's time on the show. "We love Evan Rachel Wood. She’s a terrific, terrific actor. It was a real journey with the character. You do have to be careful in a show where these are robots, and death is a different deal," he said, referring to Dolores' death. "We’ve gotten a sense of what it would take to completely kill a host. Because of the impermanence of some of these things, you have to be careful. But that character is gone. We love working with Evan." Scroll down for everything to know about season 4 of Westworld: [podcast_block]

Credit: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Everything to Know About Westworld's Highly Anticipated Return for Season 4

It's finally here! Season 4 of Westworld will be returning to HBO after more than two years — and the show continues to be more of a mystery than ever. During the explosive season 3 finale in 2020, viewers questioned Dolores' (Evan Rachel Wood) fate on the show as well as William's (Ed Harris) future after he was seemingly replaced by a version of the Man in Black. For the team behind the hit series, approaching a new season of Westworld is all about getting to raise the bar. "One of the fun things about me for the show, when Lisa [Joy] and I were talking about it way back when, was the ability of this show to shift genres every season, and the invitation to do it," creator Jonathan Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2020. "We felt we had an open invitation to play around, especially in this moment where TV is reinventing itself constantly, to have a show that reinvents itself season after season." At the time, Nolan highlighted that the genre got to change from one season to the next. "You have a Western, you have a samurai movie, you have war movies, you have science-fiction. There are all of the different versions of the future you have seen over the years in movies," he added. "We get to play around with all of that, and make text of all of that. So the idea that next season will feel different and distinct in genre from the previous seasons? Yes, that’s absolutely part of the structure of the show." In terms of world-building, Nolan noted that the full vision has been planned since they started working on the show. "When we were writing the pilot, we had this glorious period where we felt we needed to come up with a plan. The story laid itself out very neatly into chapters," he shared. "We have been talking about it from the beginning. We’re giving everybody a bit of a break, and obviously it’s a crazy moment right now. We have been talking about [season 4] for a long time." Even though the creative team chose to stay quiet about the upcoming story lines, Nolan teased that it wasn't necessarily the end of Wood's time on the show. "We love Evan Rachel Wood. She’s a terrific, terrific actor. It was a real journey with the character. You do have to be careful in a show where these are robots, and death is a different deal," he said, referring to Dolores' death. "We’ve gotten a sense of what it would take to completely kill a host. Because of the impermanence of some of these things, you have to be careful. But that character is gone. We love working with Evan." Scroll down for everything to know about season 4 of Westworld: [podcast_block]

Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO

The Release Date

Westworld will return on Sunday, June 26. There will be eight episodes in the new season.

Credit: Courtesy of HBO

The Cast

Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Harris, Tessa Thompson, Luke Hemsworth and Angela Sarafyan will be returning for season 4. The teaser trailer for the show also included Aaron Paul, Jeffrey Wright and recurring guest star Ariana DeBose.

Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO

The Story Lines

Season 4 of Westworld is expected to explore what Bernard discovered on his trip, Charlotte's plans for her host army, William's fate on the show and the state of Maeve and Caleb's new world.

Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO

The Plan for 'Westworld' From Here

Joy and Nolan previously hinted that they were interested in telling more stories for Westworld after season 4.

Credit: Courtesy HBO/YouTube

The Teaser

In May 2022, a trailer set to Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" offered a glimpse at Wood as her character is seemingly resurrected. Paul's character Caleb Nichols was also seen in danger while Bernard is surrounded by blood.

An unknown voice says, "This place is f--king wild. I can't believe this is your first time."    

Credit: Hbo/Kobal/Shutterstock

James Marsden Returns

In June 2022, Westworld announced that Marsden would return when he made a surprise appearance at the show's ATX Television Festival panel in Austin, Texas. No details were revealed about exactly how he'd return.

“Sometimes you have to go away to come back,” Marsden told the audience via Deadline. “We learn to speak cryptically on this show. This has been 7 years of our show and yeah, it’s an amazing thing to be a part of and see where the story goes. From the beginning, I didn’t know where it was all gonna go but I’m glad to see it now.”