'Westworld' season 2 release date, plot news: It returns spring 2018

Promotional image for HBO series "Westworld"Facebook/WestWorld

HBO gives a very short but sweet peek into the highly anticipated season 2 of "Westworld" as actor Jeffrey Wright teases its release date.

The network recently released a quick peek of its 2018 lineup and strategically left the fan-favorite "Westworld" for the last.

The speedy cuts tease the return of several season 1 regulars, such as Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), Man in Black (Ed Harris), Lawrence (Clifton Collins Jr.), Maeve (Thandie Newton), and Lee (Simon Quarterman). It ends with a reminder of the first season's finale, where Dolores walked up to Teddy (James Marsden) before killing Ford (Anthony Hopkins). "This world belongs to us," she says, setting the tone for the second season.

Talking to Entertainment Weekly late last week, Marsden revealed that the upcoming "Westworld" will be worth the fans' one-year wait.

"The world that we created will be completely expanded upon, and the themes and the philosophies will all be taken to the next degree," he told EW. "The one thing I can say is that it just feels so much bigger this year."

Apart from the action-packed yet vague trailer released at the San Diego Comic-Con last July, not much is known about the series' second installment. Marsden explained that there is a reason for all the secrecy, which makes the viewing experience more rewarding.

"The best way to watch this show is to let it come to you," he added. "Let it unfold in its own time. But the fans will be very pleased."

Even the release date for the upcoming season has been shrouded in secrecy, until a couple of days ago, when Wright, who plays Bernard Lowe in the drama, gave fans some ray of light.

The actor posted a caricature of his character on Instagram and said in the caption that it feels so much like a "self-portrait" now after continuous filming for the past six months. He added that they have at that time just three more filming days left, "and then we're circling back online this Spring... hard."

For the record, he initially wrote "April," before changing it into "Spring." Either way, it gives fans a rough estimate of when "Westworld" will return to the small screens for season 2.