Anyone who’s ever seen the 1973 film version of Westworld already knows HBO’s upcoming series is a must-see. With Ed Harris in as Yul Brynner’s Gunslinger — now known as “The Man in Black” (no, not that one) —
… and Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Robert Ford, the creative director of a fantasy world where the rich can interact with androids against a backdrop of their choosing, the cast is kicked off just right. Never you mind that the artificially intelligent girl of your dreams (Evan Rachel Wood) is becoming self-aware; no worries that your futuristic altered reality-cation may be dangerously marred because your presumed faux opponent has gone rogue and now wants to kill you (AS ALL ROBOTS DO). I’m sure Dr. Ford has everything under control (as these “geniuses” always do don’t). That original film — novelist Michael Crighton’s (Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain) directorial debut — was one of the introductory instruments of my well-documented fear of robot overlords, and with good reason. It so clearly demonstrated how easily AI can wrest itself from human discipline, as if we ever had authority over anything or anyone capable of learning in the first place.
Since this new incarnation comes from the mind of Jonathan Nolan (writer of the original Memento story, Person of Interest), and J.J. Abrams is involved, I fully expect we’ll be hit with a surprise non-human or two (I’m already highly suspicious of Hopkins’ Ford). The trailer is sufficiently enticing, but, honestly, unless it was a total bomb, I was guaranteed all in.
In case you haven’t yet figured it out:
Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores Abernathy:
Thandie Newton’s Maeve Millay:
James Marsden’s Teddy Flood:
Angela Sarafyan’s Clementine Pennyfeather:
Ingrid Bolsø Berdal’s Armistice:
Jeffrey Wright’s Bernard Lowe, android creator and Head of Programming:
Anthony Hopkins’ …
I’m only a wee bit paranoid.
Westworld also stars Tessa Thompson as Charlotte Hale, Sidse Babett Knudsen as Theresa Cullen, Ben Barnes as Logan (a patron), Rodrigo Santoro, Jimmi Simpson, Clifton Collins Jr. and Simon Quarterman, and it premieres on HBO this October.
Speaking of Stephen King’s Gunslinger, The Man in Black and therefore, The Dark Tower, Idris Elba aka Roland Deschain tweeted out this image today:
I am Roland, son of Steven, son of Henry, true descendant of Arthur. And I have not forgotten. #TheDarkTowerMoviepic.twitter.com/GvowjNapPC
— Idris Elba (@idriselba) June 19, 2016
To which I respond:
