Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy reveal new Shogunworld details

Westworld’s creators have been tight-lipped regarding Shogunworld; however, Nolan and Joy recently broke their silence about the show’s brand-new park.

At the end of Westworld Season 1, we got our first glimpse at the second Delos park. At the time, we only knew that it was samurai-themed, and that it bore the initials, SW. For months, fans speculated about the new park, but there wasn’t much to go on. That all changed in the last month, when Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy finally revealed the park was named Shogunworld.

Since then, we’ve gotten our first look at the park (via the Westworld Season 2 trailer) and names of a few characters that inhabit the world. To be fair, these bits and pieces of information didn’t really reveal a whole lot. To be fair, it’s more than we knew before, but we still had a ton of questions.

Thankfully, Westworld’s creators, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, recently broke their silence regarding Shogunworld in Season 2. Now, we know more about the park than we ever have before. Let’s look at what Nolan and Joy had to say regarding Shogunworld in Westworld Season 2.

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Jonathan Nolan And Lisa Joy Reveal New Details Regarding Shogunworld In Westworld Season 2

During a recent interview with

Entertainment Weekly

, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy dove deep into their plans for Shogunworld in

Westworld

Season 2. Sure, fans are acutely aware that the samurai-themed park was not a part of the Michael Crichton’s original film. However, Jonathan Nolan finally explained why they decided to go with Shogunworld rather than Roman or Medieval World.

• Jonathan Nolan Explains Why They Chose To Use Shogunworld Over Other Parks From The Original Film:

"Part of the reason we’re going to Shogun World instead of to Roman World or Medieval World is, yes, you saw those in the original film. But also, if you’re doing a theme park, you wouldn’t limit it to the Western European or North American experience. You’d try to reach a global audience. So, the idea is you have a texture here that’s totally different.And selfishly, it comes down to being obsessed with Japanese cinema as a kid and earnestly wanting to make an homage to Akira Kurosawa and the other films I grew up watching. My older brothers and I watched Sergio Leone Westerns and Kurosawa’s classic samurai films and were fascinated to discover they had the same plot. You had this wonderful call and response between these two genres — with the gunslinger and the Ronin. They have identical tropes but are set within different cultures. Frankly, this was just a great excuse to go and make a samurai movie with all the trimmings."

It’s great to hear why Nolan chose to add Shogunworld for Westworld Season 2, but he didn’t make the decision alone. Lisa Joy also commented on why she was excited to bring Shogunworld to life; however, her reasoning was slightly different from Nolan’s.

• Lisa Joy Reveals Why She’s Excited To Bring Shogunworld To Life In Westworld Season 2:

"For me, it’s also personal. I grew up in Asia, and I remember as a little kid being in Taiwan watching films there and being so awed by these new worlds of entertainment. You saw new talents with the actors, new fighting styles, new types of wardrobe. It was exhilarating to me. So we looked to all our [department heads] to make sure we had the full thrill of exploring Shogun World … researching hair and production design and costume, working with choreographers who were skilled at fighting styles we haven’t seen before, and of course working with incredible talent, from Hiroyuki Sanada and Rinko Kikuchi, and the other actors that we cast and the extras filling it out. It was wonderful to see that world come alive."

Beyond Nolan and Joy’s inspiration for the park, they also talked about their plans for Shogunworld in Season 2. While it’s true that Westworld Season 1 contained plenty of violence, it appears that Season 2 is going to take it up a notch. Nolan explained why and how Shogunworld lends itself to increased violence, as well as how the park will be showcased.

• Jonathan Nolan Talks About The Violence And Gore In Shogunworld:

"In addition to Kurosawa films, which are plenty bloody, I grew up watching the Sonny Chiba films — those are the ones Tarantino is riffing on in his films with the super-fluidity of gore and mayhem; this sense of an alternately brutal and beautiful world that raises the volume on what the guests might be looking for. It wasn’t just about gore, it’s also about being immersive. We wanted to feel like our story dropped into a totally different world. Basically, we have a whole episode in Japanese."

At the end of the interview, Nolan and Joy were asked how big of a role Shogunworld would play in Westworld Season 2. This question is controversial among Westworld fans, who are concerned that the new park will dilute the show. However, Jonathan Nolan assured fans that the show will still center heavily on Westworld and the characters from Season 1.

• Jonathan Nolan Comments On The Prevalence Of Shogunworld In Westworld Season 2:

"We want to try and gently temper expectations. Most of our season is spent in Westworld — the eponymous Westworld. But we do get a chance to glimpse some of the other worlds. And we have a couple of episodes that are spent in Shogun World with one of our storylines, while our other storylines continue elsewhere. So, I say we’re trying to temper expectations, except to say that I think the stuff we did for Shogun World is spectacular."

*You can check out the whole interview here. 

Next: A guide to the Westworld Season 2 hidden trailer

We still have a few months until Westworld Season 2 drops. Until then, we will continue to speculate on anything and everything Westworld.

Westworld Season 2 will premiere on HBO Sunday, April 22, 2018 9PM/EST

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