Following the Star Trek panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 in Hall H on Saturday, July 20 was the Westworld III panel, wherein cast members and creators of the hit HBO show, Westworld, discussed the upcoming third season.
Panelists included husband and wife creators Jonathan (“Jonah”) Nolan and Lisa Joy, as well as cast members Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Tessa Thompson, and newcomer Aaron Paul.
The moderator, Amy Webb, immediately pointed out that some of them should be dead, to which Tessa Thompson replied, “You never really die on Westworld though, right?”
The moderator tried to ask questions about the Man in Black, what that final scene after the end credits of Season 2 mean, and whether he will be back in Season 3. Jonah joked that Ed Harris (who plays the Man in Black) had a big gun and he didn’t want to call him to tell him he’s not on the show anymore. As for whether Logan is coming back, Lisa and Jonah would not say.
Jonah talked about the difficulties at the end of each season when they have to make the call to people who have become family to tell them they’re not coming back. However, Jonah also said that “The highest form of praise on our show is we kill you!” He then joked that one call that was easy to make was to Luke Hemsworth, due to his “disruptive personality.” Just then, Luke Hemsworth, who had not been listed as being part of the panel, came out on stage and joined the panel!
The moderator tried to ask what year the events of Westworld takes place, but Jonah dodged the question. Aaron Paul chimed in, saying that he thought the trailer would make it pretty clear. Despite Jonah’s protests that the trailer should be shown at the end of the panel, they did go ahead and show the trailer right then.
Here is the official SDCC trailer for Westworld Season 3:
Jeffrey Wright joked that it was obvious the year it takes place: 2020! Of course, that’s actually just when Season 3 will premiere.
The moderator asked whether Nazis were malware, but got no response. She then asked if there was a name for Season 3, as Season 1 was “The Maze” and Season 2 was “The Door.” Jonah did answer this question, telling us that the name of this season is “The New World.” But when the moderator tried to confirm that we have left the park, Jonah answered, “I didn’t say that.”
In response to the moderator’s comment about the appearance of this “dystopia” in the trailer, Jonah talked about how just because the world is corrupt on the inside doesn’t mean it can’t be smoothed over and look pretty on the outside. It is actually something they have been planning from the beginning. They didn’t want it to look like the future we see in Blade Runner. Rather than building the set, they traveled to look for it.
Evan Rachel Wood talked about how her character is a “fish out of water” this season, having lost Teddy, and is “taking on the world single-handedly,” which is a “lonely experience.” She added that this season she is a good mixture of Dolores and Wyatt, but is still full of surprises. According to Evan, her actions with Aaron’s character challenge her ideas about humanity.
As for Aaron’s character, which is a new character, he is a construction worker named Caleb. In the future, robots help with construction work, so Caleb has a red robot named George. We learned that Caleb has a “complicated past,” so he’s both a White Hat and a Black Hat. He also mentioned that he had been a “psycho fan” of the show, and that the show makes him think that we are all living in a simulation.
The moderator asked Luke Hemsworth about the final scene between his character and Tessa Thompson’s character and whether there was something else entirely going on that we may have missed. Luke acknowledged that might be the case, then joked about his character, who is head of security, saying, “He’s not very good at his job.”
Jonah talked about the idea of “algorithmic determinism” and how the show is a “best case scenario” of it. He went on to tell us that in Season 3, they “discard the idea of ‘metaphor’ and just the deal with the world for what it is, which is a giant sh*tshow.”
The question came up of who the character Ford is based upon, which Lisa and Jonah confirmed that he was a composite of several people, one of which was Prospero, according to Lisa. Additionally, Jonah mentioned Demis Hassabis of DeepMind, as well as talked about Elon Musk’s belief that there is a need for transparency in the development of AI. Jonah also confirmed that although everything that happens on the show is heightened, it is based on something in the real world.
Tessa couldn’t really say anything about Season 3, but she did recall when she first found out where her character was going, and that Dolores was inside of her. At that point, she was then able to call up Evan Rachel Wood for tips on how to be Dolores! Evan and Tessa didn’t want to give away anything, but one thing Evan did want people to notice is that whenever Dolores sits down, her right hand is always in her left.
When asked whether Bernard learned empathy or if it was programmed, Jeffrey Wright cryptically answered, “Well I guess that’s a question for the show, isn’t it?” As for how he plays his character, he said that he reads the script, then bombards Lisa and Jonah with questions.
Thandie Newton didn’t have any real-life experiences she could relate to for her emotional scenes in Season 2, but went on to talk about the hosts in Westworld, and how although they are expensive hardware, are never informed of their actual value.
They did a “lightning round” where the moderator asked a question, and the panelists raised their hands if the answer was yes. Most of the panelists had a smart speaker in their homes, but did not (or at least did not admit it) have them in their bedroom or bathroom. Only Lisa and Jonah had uploaded their DNA (though Lisa pointed out it was for their children), and only Lisa, Jonah, and Evan have vehicles with autonomous features. Jonah joked that we would get to see how good robot drivers are in Season 3.
The moderator talked about the show being violent, which Lisa agreed to, but pointed out that it’s “nowhere near as violent as the world.” However, the show is putting a lens on that violence and examining it. For Tessa, who considers herself a very non-violent person, the violence was very challenging. In the scene where her character shoots the guards, she felt “bad-ass” but then in the scene where she held a gun to Jeffrey’s head, she had an emotional response, as the two are close. It turned out that this was the first time Jeffrey had heard this.
Audience members also had the chance to ask a few questions.
One question was about Aaron’s character, Caleb, and how hard it was for him to live in the society he lives in. Aaron responded that since it’s the world that Caleb was born into, it’s very normal for him, though he wishes for a better world. Additionally, Caleb was born into “a complicated thing,” and just has to “roll with the punches.”
Another question was addressed to Evan, whose character has strong convictions that are challenged by other characters, and inquired as to whether morality is subjective. Evan talked about how some things are black and white, but some things aren’t. She pointed out that sometimes we call someone a hero, even though they’re doing the same thing that the villain is doing. Evan said that there are a lot of gray areas, and even though it’s difficult for her to do the things her character does, she understands why she’s doing it. She went on to say that Dolores is always learning and growing, and that she’s excited for people to see her character this season.
When a fan of Aaron Paul asked him what draws him to play these types of characters, Aaron answered that he gravitates to characters that make him feel “deep-rooted, complex emotions” and that he’s not afraid to open his heart to feel the torture, pain, and love that these characters are going through.
Another attendee asked Thandie Newton what her favorite scene was to “kick some booty.” She replied that there were too many to name, but she relished them all. Then she went on to talk about how she felt empowerment during the scenes when she was naked and bossing people around. Indeed, when actor Vincent Cassel joined the show, he had commented to her that Maeve had hardly been naked. Of course, this was inaccurate, and Thandie realized that the reason he had that impression was because her nudity had not been sexualized and that because of that, it empowered her rather than weakened or demoralized her.
The final question was about what kind of character development we can look forward to for Aaron Paul’s character. Aaron revealed that they’re actually still in the middle of shooting the season, so he’s looking forward to what comes next for him. He explained that they learn a little more about their characters with each script that they read. But Aaron did say that his character, Caleb, gives viewers a look at one human’s life in this futuristic society.
The panel ended with the trailer for Westworld III being shown one more time.
Up next in Hall H was the Women Who Kick Ass panel. Click here for our recap and photos of that panel, as well as more of our coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2019!
You can view more of our photos from the Westworld panel at SDCC 2019 below.
