‘Westworld’ Season 2 Spoilers: When Will HBO Series Return? Creator Reveals Season 2 Air Date

“Westworld” Season 1 went out with a bang on Sunday night as its finale episode “The Bicameral Mind” dropped one bombshell after another. But sadly, it will be quite a long wait for “Westworld” fans before they can watch new episodes of the HBO sci-fi drama.

“Definitely not coming back until 2018,” show creator Jonathan Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter. “Look, we said to the network very early that this was a different kind of show, having gone through the experience of making the pilot. ‘Game of Thrones’ is incredibly ambitious, and that was part of the reason we knew we wanted to make this show with HBO.”

“We knew for ourselves that going forward, the production is enormously challenging and ambitious, and so is the writing. So we said very early on that we wouldn't be able to turn this around every year, and knowing full well that that's been a time-honored tradition in television,” he continued.

One of the things fans have been very concerned about is the reappearance of Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) next season. During the Season 1 finale, he let Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood) kill him the same way she did his former partner, Arnold Weber (Jeffrey Wright). However, Nolan refused to divulge any spoilers.

“I think with this show, you want to assume nothing. We had a wonderful experience. It was one of the greatest privileges of my career so far, getting to work with Anthony for the first season. It was an incredible experience,” he said.

The only one who has been asked to return is Ed Harris, who plays the Man in Black. He told BBC Radio 4 that Nolan has already included him in 10 more episodes of “Westworld.”

As for Jimmi Simpson, who plays the young William, he told Vanity Fair that he won’t be back next season. “My William has served his purpose. As of now, I’ll be done at the end of Season 1,” he said.

“Westworld” Season 2 will return to HBO on 2018.