‘Westworld’ Creators Tease Medieval And Roman Worlds In Season 2 Of HBO Series

On Day 2 of the 2017 Vanity Fair Summit, Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy hinted at the possibility of the introduction of new theme parks in the next season, specifically Roman World and Medieval World, amusement park zones which were included in Michael Crichton’s original 1973 movie. At the top of the panel discussion, Nolan and Joy were asked why they left out Roman World and Medieval World in season 1 with Nolan responding “We had to save something for Season 2.”

This comes after it was hinted in the season one finale of Westworld, that Samurai World, another violent amusement park, would open its doors in the upcoming sophomore run.

In the original movie, Westworld wasn’t the only theme park that guests could visit to live out their role-playing fantasies. Delos, the company behind the Western-themed vacation spot, also operated Roman World and Medieval World. In addition, the 1976 sequel that wasn’t penned by Crichton took place in a park known as Futureworld.

Nolan and Joy also spoke today about the advancement of Artificial Intelligence technology, which is the center theme of their show, and its possible ramifications.

“I feel evenly split between the fear that A.I. will enslave us and make us do its bidding and my fear that it won’t,” said Nolan. “If you look at things that have gone down in the last year, humans are terrible at running this world. It’s clear that there’s room for improvement.” He was optimistic about the idea that systems “can yield dramatic improvements in a way our world functions.”

“People like to ask, ‘Why would A.I. want to be evil and destroy us?'” Joy said comparing it to the goal of a corporation. “A corporation’s goal is to make profits. It’s very simple. It’s binary. It’s either less or more. Computers work along the same thing. If you can see how, with the simplest of directives that can get blown into something beyond what could image, that’s the kind of thing we’re talking about.”