Ed Harris takes Top villain role in HBOs "Westworld" reboot

[Deberg_1990]

Sweet. Loved this film when I was a kid. It's ripe for a reboot.

Doesn't sound like he's playing the Yul Brenner role though

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/08/11/ed-harris-westworld/



Image Credit: WireImage.com
Ed Harris is coming to series TV: The Abyss and Apollo 13 actor has signed on as the Big Bad in HBO’s Westworld reboot.
The four-time Oscar nominee’s character is called The Man in Black, and is described as “the distillation of pure villainy into one man.” He joins previously cast star — and fellow series television newcomer—Anthony Hopkins, along with Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, and Shannon Woodward.

The Warner Bros.-produced sci-fi pilot produced by J.J Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, and Bryan Burk updates Michael Crichton’s 1973 classic film about a theme park where androids fulfill dark human desires. Harris’ description might sound like he’s playing the Yul Brynner killer-cowboy robot role, but it seems like actor Rodrigo Santoro was tapped for that part—and online production rumors suggest The Man in Black is actually a human character who sadistically abuses the androids.

Harris will soon be seen the feature film Run All Night, starring opposite Liam Neeson and Joel Kinnaman. Harris won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy for his work in HBO’s Game Change.

[KChiefs1]

Phenomenal show.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[unlurking]

Originally Posted by Anyong Bluth

2nd episode delivered for me. 1st episode was fine for getting oriented with the landscape, and not a criticism outside of it just didn't have that 1 scene that delivers the hook. To be fair, the story premise is already the hook.

Favorite theory so far:

Spoiler!

The man in black (Ed), is timid William, who we meet in episode 2.

There's subtle hints they're showing 2 timelines.

MiB mentions he's been coming for 30 years.

Slightly different and updated logos between scenes.

The intro into town shows an evolution of how they arrive even down to in one variation the sheriff is recruiting a posse to chase down an outlaw bandit.
Fast forward and now they've got an army man recruiting.

Billy quickly takes a liking to Dolores.

The MiB clearly has a history and issues with her in the past for some reason to stray from his agenda and attack her...
like falling for her the 1st time he saw her only to find she will never remember him from his previous visits since she has her memory wiped routinely...

Except that the hosts are starting to remember their previous histories...

The makeshift oil derrick / cross is a great teaser!

Spoiler!

Didn't Harris say he'd been going since he was a kid with his family, and that he was basically, "born there"? This is William's first time. Without his family, so I don't think it fits. Maybe I missed something in his monologue though. But I do like the idea of William getting hooked on someone/something that crushes his soul and turns him "evil".

I assume it will be something more along the lines of Harris actually being a failed Hopkins experiment at AI, and he knows that he's a robot. Not sure how much he knows though, or how much they know he knows. His quest is he is trying to meet his creator and get all his questions about life answered.

[KC_Lee]

Originally Posted by unlurking

Spoiler!

Didn't Harris say he'd been going since he was a kid with his family, and that he was basically, "born there"? This is William's first time. Without his family, so I don't think it fits. Maybe I missed something in his monologue though. But I do like the idea of William getting hooked on someone/something that crushes his soul and turns him "evil".

I assume it will be something more along the lines of Harris actually being a failed Hopkins experiment at AI, and he knows that he's a robot. Not sure how much he knows though, or how much they know he knows. His quest is he is trying to meet his creator and get all his questions about life answered.

Spoiler!

If Ed Harris is reprising the role that Yul Brynner played in the movie then your are correct. When the Man in Black said he was coming here for 30 years I think he meant Deloris' farm. In other words she and he have a history, and since she (Deloris) is one of original "hosts" and he knows it I be the Man in Black is a robot looking for answers.

[unlurking]

Originally Posted by KC_Lee

Spoiler!

If Ed Harris is reprising the role that Yul Brynner played in the movie then your are correct. When the Man in Black said he was coming here for 30 years I think he meant Deloris' farm. In other words she and he have a history, and since she (Deloris) is one of original "hosts" and he knows it I be the Man in Black is a robot looking for answers.

Good point about farm vs. world.

Either way, I haven't seen the original since I was a teenager. Don't remember the full storyline, and don't want to rewatch until after at least the first season!

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by unlurking

Spoiler!

Didn't Harris say he'd been going since he was a kid with his family, and that he was basically, "born there"? This is William's first time. Without his family, so I don't think it fits. Maybe I missed something in his monologue though. But I do like the idea of William getting hooked on someone/something that crushes his soul and turns him "evil".

I assume it will be something more along the lines of Harris actually being a failed Hopkins experiment at AI, and he knows that he's a robot. Not sure how much he knows though, or how much they know he knows. His quest is he is trying to meet his creator and get all his questions about life answered.

Originally Posted by KC_Lee

Spoiler!

If Ed Harris is reprising the role that Yul Brynner played in the movie then your are correct. When the Man in Black said he was coming here for 30 years I think he meant Deloris' farm. In other words she and he have a history, and since she (Deloris) is one of original "hosts" and he knows it I be the Man in Black is a robot looking for answers.

Spoiler!

He says, you could practically say I was born here or grew up here.

Given his age, he couldn't have been a kid, but he could be patient zero for the update glitch and one of the original hosts that Hopkins in secret turned loose with a fake human profile.
Remember the 2 techs check in on him and one asks if they should slow him down. The other guy says no and intimates he can do as he wants and has some type of special arrangement or status.

If Harris is a robot, the obvious direction is that he's become self aware and seeking to meet "the creator" and move into the "real" world. My guess is he's searching for the hidden access points within the park, and more specifically one of the unknown / secret ones that Hopkins uses that aren't monitored and possibly the maze leads to a point where he can confront Hopkins directly and bypass all the security on the other side?


That still doesn't explain how the other robots have the information he's looking for.

I also get the feeling that the young boy Hopkins talks with is a robot version of him as a young boy.

Which makes you wonder if the glitch is beta testing for transferring memories?

One man facing old age and death trying to escape his reality by transferring his consciousness and live forever artificially. His creation evolving and trying to break out of the reality that was his artificial origin.

Escape and transcendence.

... as Billy's friend said he was really interested in finding out who William really is.

[Discuss Thrower]

Holy shit that theory... that would be awesome.

Sad I didn't catch the player piano tune this time around.

Sizemore is a punk

[Anyong Bluth]

I'm sure everyone picked up the violent ends quote triggers the glitch and effectively spreads the awakening from "host" to new "host".

[mdchiefsfan]

Originally Posted by KC_Lee

Spoiler!

If Ed Harris is reprising the role that Yul Brynner played in the movie then your are correct. When the Man in Black said he was coming here for 30 years I think he meant Deloris' farm. In other words she and he have a history, and since she (Deloris) is one of original "hosts" and he knows it I be the Man in Black is a robot looking for answers.

Spoiler!

My question would be how come the gun didn't affect the Man in Black when he was shot? I guess we have never seen host on host violence, but it would create the need to explain why when a "newcomer" wields a weapon there are results, but not a host. They would then have to explain why the Man in Black's weapon kills hosts. Maybe he got his hands on a newcomer's gun, and only those guns kill hosts? That'll be interesting to see play out.

Also, I wonder if the "maze" is the exit from Westworld. The deeper level of games he desires could be inflicting his sadistic games upon a wider, less predictive population of victims.

I don't remember the character's name, but I got the feeling the head developer (the guy always talking to Anthony Hopkins) has some involvement in the development of this glitch. His interaction with Deloris was extremely odd, especially where he said he found her new behaviors fascinating, but others may disagree. Is he giving them more cognizant capabilities and telling no one what he is doing?

[KevB]

Originally Posted by Anyong Bluth

I'm sure everyone picked up the violent ends quote triggers the glitch and effectively spreads the awakening from "host" to new "host".

Yep, and you'd think this would spell doom for the host, as it did for Delores' father. However, 2 hosts that are "infected" are clearly stars of the show, so interested to see how this evolves.

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by KevB

Yep, and you'd think this would spell doom for the host, as it did for Delores' father. However, 2 hosts that are "infected" are clearly stars of the show, so interested to see how this evolves.

Didn't they say her father used to be part of a cannibal cult storyline and a bunch of other messed up characters previously?

Each host may be different including how much trauma there is from all of a sudden recalling A LOT of terrible shit flooding in at once.

[mr. tegu]

What is the significance of the bartender appearing to have black hair in the first episode but then having grey hair in the second episode? It looked like the same guy, just older.

[Baby Lee]

I half love, half HATE, the fact that Abrams is apparently delving back into the narrative possibilities of the conflation of reality, fiction and fictionalized reality.

On one hand, in their beginning stages the storylines spark the imagination and turn the viewing process into an individualized creative process of its own as you dream up 'fanfic' of what it all means.

On the other hand we have LOST, the elephant in the room. The show where all that narrative world-building turned out to be a Potemkin village erected to mask the fact that they had no idea what they were doing in the end.

That said, here's preview footage.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

What is the significance of the bartender appearing to have black hair in the first episode but then having grey hair in the second episode? It looked like the same guy, just older.

This is exactly the kind of musing I'm talking about.

In an Abrams world, this kind of detail could be a CRUCIAL plot twist [or meta-narrative insight], or it could be a simple lapse on the continuity coordinator's part, . . . or it could be a once-upon-a-time crucial detail that got abandoned when the writers change their minds, and years from now they'll slyly hint it was a continuity error. . . or was it!!!!!?????

In the moment, it's compelling and satisfying to chew through the narrative details looking for meaning, Only time will tell if we're all a bunch of armchair Sherlocks, or a pile of dumb animals chasing their tails on the porch.

[Baby Lee]

This discussion reminds me of a philosophical quandary that seems to be percolating back up around the show.


What is more terrifying to you

An AI that passes the Turing test?
or
An AI that deliberately fails the Turing test?

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

This discussion reminds me of a philosophical quandary that seems to be percolating back up around the show.


What is more terrifying to you

An AI that passes the Turing test?
or
An AI that deliberately fails the Turing test?

How is the 2nd option not always the answer?

Exhibiting deception means that the new entity has already bitten from the apple and fallen.

I guess you can take consolation in the fact that it happened so quickly that we were predestined to fail and doomed from the start.

It is an interesting premise to present self awareness in an AI as a glitch, and the commentary as it translates to humanity and our relationship to nature, our environment, and one another.