James Marsden Says Series Ending Was A “Disappointment”

It’s been two months since fans of Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy‘s sci-fi drama Westworld learned that the award-winning series would not be returning, with Warner Bros. Discovery-owned HBO pulling the plug on a fifth & final season that was reportedly being negotiated over shortly before the news broke. Adding salt to the wound, Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the series from HBO Max, reportedly looking to license it out to FAST streaming channels. One of those disappointed by the news was James Marsden (Teddy), who returned in the fourth & unexpectedly final season. “I’d be lying to you if I told you that the way we ended ‘Westworld’ wasn’t a disappointment,” Marsden shared during an interview with Rolling Stone. “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 continued, “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. 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.” That said, the actor holds out some hope that the full story could still find its way onto screens. “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,” Marsden added.

“Over the past four seasons, Lisa and Jonah have taken viewers on a mind-bending odyssey, raising the bar at every step. We are tremendously grateful to them, along with their immensely talented cast, producers, and crew, and all of our partners at Kilter Films, Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. Television. It’s been a thrill to join them on this journey,” said an HBO rep in a statement that was released when news of the show’s cancellation was first announced. “Making Westworld has been one of the highlights of our careers. We are deeply grateful to our extraordinary cast and crew for creating these indelible characters and brilliant worlds. We’ve been privileged to tell these stories about the future of consciousness – both human and beyond – in the brief window of time before our AI overlords forbid us from doing so,” was how the statement read from Kilter Films. Nolan and Joy have a team-up with Amazon Studios (in association with Bethesda Game Studios & Bethesda Softworks) for a series adaptation of the “Fallout” video game franchise, where their current sci-ft drama-thriller The Peripheral premiered.