HBO gave fans more than a violent delight when it revealed the first full-length trailer for Season 2 of “Westworld” — not to mention its return date of April 22 — during Super Bowl LII on Sunday.
The commercial (directed by co-creator Jonathan Nolan) is narrated by Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), the leader of the host rebellion, who tells us all, “this world is a lie, and we’ll burn it to the ground and build a new world, our world.”
A few other tastes we get of the upcoming season are a shot of falling snow (huh?), what we assume is that unfinished host of Ford’s (Anthony Hopkins) hovering behind Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) and a savage scene of android bulls led on a rampage through the Delos Destinations labs by host Maeve (Thandie Newton).
Oh, and we should also note the track Nolan selected to accompany the ad was an instrumental version of Kanye West’s “Runaway.”
Before you go dissecting every frame, you should know that some of the footage used is exclusive to the trailer, HBO confirmed to TheWrap. So while you can theorize away, it’s safe to assume there are probably more than a few misdirects.
HBO has only purchased ad time during the Game of Games twice before, in 1997 and 1998, for spots promoting thenetwork in general. The fact that a Super Bowl ad costs more than a pretty penny and that Nolan created the trailer himself indicates HBO is not messing around when it comes to the second season of the J.J. Abrams-produced sci-fi series.
Watch an extended 90-second version of the ad (a 30-second version ran during the big game) above.
“Westworld” Season 2 premieres on April 22 at 9/8c on HBO.