Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy shared a whole host of details about the series’ upcoming third season in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, assuring viewers frustrated with its myriad of puzzle boxes that “this season is a little less of a guessing game.” Good, because it was starting to feel like the show existed only for people who liked to dissect it on Reddit (and, of course, our own critic, who mostly enjoyed the divisive second season).
The first teaser for the third season showed that a sea change is most definitely afoot: Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul led the clip as a blue-collar worker and budding revolutionary in a futuristic L.A. who soon crosses paths with Evan Rachel Wood’s escaped host Dolores, the only established character to appear. In the interview, Paul’s character is identified as Caleb, and it’s said he has “a strong impact” on Dolores as she experiences “culture shock” in the world outside of the theme park.
“Aaron’s character will challenge Dolores’ notions about the nature of humanity,” said Nolan. “He’s the type of person who doesn’t get to go to Westworld.”
Added Joy of the season, “We’re looking at the aftermath of the massacre in the park. After all they went through to get out of the park, Dolores finally got what she wanted, so we wanted to see how she interacts with the world and what her plan is. That’s a part of the story we were excited to tell.”
The first full-length trailer premiered during Comic-Con, providing a glimpse of Delores navigating the real world and Maeve living in World War II Europe, complete with Nazis. Nolan noted during the Westworld panel that the internal subtitle for this season is “The New World,” and while they haven’t left the park, there is a clear through-line of survival between each character as they fight to outlive brand new circumstances. Season three of Westworld premieres sometime in 2020.