‘Westworld’ Season 2 Spoilers: EP Teases Anthony Hopkins’ Return

Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) was killed off during the “Westworld” Season 1 finale, so chances of his involvement in Season 2 are pretty much gone.

However, executive producer Jonathan Nolan seems intent on keeping Hopkins on the show. Many people are assuming that they will create a host version of Ford, just like he did with former partner Arnold Weber (Jeffrey Wright).

But Nolan dismissed the idea and said that Ford is really dead. “I think the sacrifice he makes at the end of the first season is very real,” he told Digital Spy.

READ: What is the title of the premiere episode of “Westworld” Season 2?

Since there won’t be a host version of Ford, Nolan said they’d have to do with flashbacks. “I think there will be an opportunity to explore a little bit more of the backstory of how this park came to be, a little more of that story,” he said. "We'll see the character's presence will be felt in that sense in terms of filling in a few more of the gaps about the early history of this place.”

The only concern Nolan has right now is how to fit Hopkins into the show, given his busy schedule. “He’s a busy guy, so we’ll see what happens,” he said.

The host who killed Ford during the Season 1 finale is Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood), who also happened to be the villain named Wyatt. Given what she did, lab technicians would probably want to tame her after the incident. One way they are going to do so is to erase her memories. But Wood told the Los Angeles Times that it seems unlikely writers would want to go down that path.

“I seriously doubt that they’re gonna go back to doing what we were doing. I think they want every season to be different. And there’s endless possibilities. Because anybody can come back. You can be in any kind of world. You can be in any time. So who knows what they’re up to right now?” she said.

“Westworld” Season 2 premieres on HBO in 2018.