Since its season three finale in May 2020, it’s been very quiet on the Westworld front. But season four is on the horizon—and is arriving surprisingly soon. The HBO series released the teaser trailer over the weekend as an Easter egg for fans. But, of course, it didn’t take long for people to catch on. Set to Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” the teaser is a sweeping, gorgeous glimpse at all our main players. But under the beautiful sheen, the trailer carries sinister undercurrents. After all, this is Westworld, a show that’s made beautiful use of the famed Romeo and Juliet line, “These violent delights have violent ends.”
At the very end of the teaser, the series casually drops its release date: June 26, 2022. This is remarkably soon, given HBO gave us much more of a heads up for House of the Dragon. (The Game of Thrones prequel drops at the end of August.)
HBO is keeping pretty mum about the series. But the company did release a short logline: “A dark odyssey about the fate of sentient life on earth.”
You may be wondering, what even happened in season three? After all, the last few years have felt like decades. Luckily there’s plenty of time to give the series a refresher rewatch. But here’s a brief summary: Following the host uprising inside Westworld, Dolores entered the real world, intent on bringing down Vincent Cassel’s Engerraund Serac, the man behind the Artificial Intelligence system Rehoboam. Meanwhile, Bernard—who the Delos Board thinks is human—is on the hook for the Westworld massacre while trying to figure out Dolores’ plans. And William wants to rid the world of hosts. As always, things are quite busy for the Westworld crew.
The trailer gives a good idea of who from the previous seasons are returning for more. Westworld has, of course, cycled through a giant ensemble cast. But right now, all that remain are a legion of hosts—a few former humans—and a lone human. Westworld season four stars Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Ed Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Luke Hemsworth, Angela Sarafyan, and Aaron Paul. West Side Story‘s Ariana Debose will recur.
Westworld season four debuts on June 26, 2022.
