A familiar face is coming back for Westworld season 4.
The Westworld panel at ATX Television Festival last Saturday confirmed that James Marsden is returning for the upcoming season of the hit HBO series.
James Marsden as Teddy Flood
In the first two seasons of Westworld, Marsden played the series regular role of Theodore “Teddy” Flood, a host in the role of a gunslinger who returned to Sweetwater looking to rekindle his relationship with Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood). Though his narrative loop meant that he stayed close to Dolores during the uprising, Teddy did not achieve the same level of sentience that she did.
Teddy became aware that he was a host when Dolores reprogrammed him against his will, causing him to attack guests. After what Dolores did, Teddy felt betrayed and angrily rejected her. Although he loved Dolores, Teddy couldn’t live with what she had made him do, so he ultimately decided to shoot himself in the head. Believing he deserved a better place, Dolores later uploaded Teddy to the Sublime.
James Marsden in Westworld season 4
It’s not exactly clear how Teddy will return for the new season, or if Marsden will even be coming back as the same character. While the actor remained tight-lipped on his season 4 role, he did say the following about the show during the ATX Television Festival panel:
“Sometimes you have to go away to come back. 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.”
Westworld season 4 cast
Marsden joins returning main cast members Jeffrey Wright, Ed Harris, Thandiwe Newton, Luke Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Angela Sarafyan, and Aaron Paul in season 4, which will introduce a new character played by Ariana DeBose and will also bring back Wood.
As fans can remember, Wood’s Dolores sacrificed herself at the end of season 3, ultimately passing the robot revolution torch to Maeve (Newton) and Caleb (Paul) before getting her AI erased. Series co-creator Lisa Joy Nolan confirmed during the ATX Television Festival panel that Dolores died in season 3, but Wood will still return for season 4 to play a new character.
Evan Rachel Wood in Westworld season 4
Wood will portray the role of a New York City writer in season 4. “There’s a girl named Christina and she’s wonderful and she’s just trying to make it in the big city,” Nolan said of Wood’s new character.
“She’s a normal woman living in a big city just trying to make it as a writer. Nothing ever happens to her, really. I think that’s all I can say,” Wood added of her role during the ATX Television Festival panel. “I was told that Dolores was meeting her rather tragic end in season 3, so I had some convos with [co-creator] Jonathan [Nolan] and Lisa at the time about what that meant. They said, ‘Yeah, you’ll be back this season and you’ll look a lot like Evan Rachel Wood but I’m not me.”
Wood added that Christina “dates [but] it’s slim pickings out there.” The actress also teased that Christina may not be “as maniacal and murdery as Dolores.”
Westworld season 4 poster
HBO also unveiled a poster for season 4 last Saturday. Featuring the tagline “Adapt or Die,” the key art shows two host arms holding a human skull, with one pulling a Host “pearl” out of the skull, with a noticeable fly sitting on it. The skull’s eye socket features a bleak image of a human city that appears to have been taken over by the hosts. Check out the poster below:
Westworld season 4 release date
The eight-episode season 4 of Westworld is set to premiere on Sunday, June 26th at 9 p.m. ET on HBO. The new season will also be available to stream on HBO Max.