Jimmi Simpson Discusses Possible Return For 'Westworld' Season 2

Westworld was one of the things I loved most 2016, a remarkable, weird, and so very smart science fiction series that managed to be about running a futuristic robot theme park and the evolving nature of interactive entertainment and philosophizing about man's inhumanity to man. We know that a second season is on the way, but we also know that it won't arrive for some time. So that leaves us with one reasonable course of action: beg the actors involved for clues.

Currently on the begging list: Jimmi Simpson. Westworld spoilers will be set free after this sentence.

As you may remember from the season finale last year, Simpson's William was a familiar face hiding in plain sight. Or rather, a familiar face hiding in the past. He was the younger version of Ed Harris' Man in Black and all of his scenes were flashbacks to the early days of Westworld (and while we all saw that coming, the reveal was superbly handled). Since all of the business in the past seems to be finished and since William's storyline can continue in the future with Harris, does this mean we've seen the last of young William, and therefore, Simpson? Speaking with CinemaBlend, he doesn't rule anything out:

So far, my involvement in [season 2] is unclear. If they have more for William, I would assume it would be a whole new kind of story. Because I feel like this story, the love affair [with Evan Rachel Wood's character, Dolores], we know everything, we know what happens, we don't have to belabor that point. But if they have a reason – I mean, it was the greatest set I've ever worked on. But we're all speculating what season 2 will be, and I think it'll be something that will blow our minds, to the degree that season 1 did. But I wouldn't be surprised if William showed up season 3 or something.

In other words, Simpson knows about as much as we do. Which isn't much (although we have compiled everything we do know into one handy article). On one hand, young William's story does appear to be over and Simpson no longer being on the show feels likely. But Westworld has a habit of zigging when you expect it to zag, so who knows?

While the first season does definitively close the book of William and Dolores' early relationship and repositions any drama between the two of them to the future timeline, it's possible to imagine Westworld finding more for Simpson to do. After all, the decades that turned him into Ed Harris are handled with a quick montage on the show. What happened during that time? What key decisions did me make as the majority shareholder of Westworld?

Plus, we never got a proper resolution of the conflict between him and Ben Barnes' Logan, so it's possible that the show could return to the past to explore how those two dealt with the fallout from the first season. For all we know, Logan could be alive and he could still have a role to play in the future timeline.

Westworld season 2 is expected to arrive sometime in 2018.