Westworld star James Marsden has addressed the HBO show's cancelation, calling the move "a disappointment." A fifth season to tie up the story was hoped for, but the show was scrapped at season 4.
"I'd be lying to you if I told you that the way we ended Westworld wasn't a disappointment. I'm never going to speak without gratitude about any of my experiences, but it would have been nice to be able to complete the story we wanted to finish," Marsden told Rolling Stone.
"I love this Westworld family. It was one of those unique opportunities to be part of something where I also would be sitting at home ravenously waiting for the next episode as a fan," he continued. "I totally understand it's an expensive show and big shows have to have big audiences to merit the expense, I just wish it was about more than financial success. But who knows, maybe there's some world where it can get completed somehow. Maybe that's just wishful thinking, because I know we had plans to finish it the way we wanted to."
Co-creator Lisa Joy previously talked about what a potential season 5 would have explored. "From the very beginning, in season one, we talked about characters being on loops, and how do you break these loops? The cycles of violence, the cycles of destruction, the cycles of rebuilding. So you're hoping that with each epicycle, progress is made – that you're moving toward somewhere good," she said. "Hale has control this season. What role does she make? Ford had control – humans had control – in the first season. What does that look like? Now we're moving toward, gods willing, a season in which Dolores has control and the cycle will repeat one last time. How will that be different? What new things can be learned? And, is it possible to even break out of that cycle?"
HBO Max has since removed Westworld from its content library entirely, part of a pattern of movies and TV shows being quietly taken off the streamer – including more recently hundreds of episodes of classic animated TV shows Looney Tunes and The Flintstones.
If you're up to speed on Westworld, fill out your watchlist with our guide to all the new TV shows headed your way.
