Westworld S3 aims to paint 'more sympathetic' portrait of humanity, says co-creator

Known for portraying human beings as arrogant and cruel, Westworld is going for a different approach with its third season, which premiered on HBO last night. Now that the story shifting to the outside world, co-creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy wanted to show another side to mankind.

"The first two seasons do not paint a very warm picture of human behavior. For the third season, we wanted a slightly more sympathetic take on it," says Nolan in a new featurette (see below) that goes behind the scenes of Episode 1, "Parce Domine." 

"We wanted this season to be hopeful," Joy adds.

Enter Caleb, an army vet (played by Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul), who is trying to live a normal life, but can't overcome the trauma of his violent past. He's not a bad dude and even rarer for this series, he's kind and courteous to his robot co-worker, George. Struggling to pay for his mother's medical bills, Caleb takes on criminal odd jobs to supplement his income and by the end of the Season 3 premiere, he's set on a course to help Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) establish machine rule.

"With Caleb, we're introduced to a different understanding of humanity," Nolan continues.

HBO also dropped a teaser for what the next string of episodes hold in store for viewers.

Maeve (Thandie Newton), as we saw in that short post-credits teaser, is in some kind of WWII section of the Westworld park. Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) needs her help in stopping Dolores, while the latter uses her Charlotte Hale puppet (Tessa Thompson) to carry out some of her grand plans. Plus, William (Ed Harris) is on his way back to the world of the living and the mysterious Serac (Vincent Cassel), who was briefly mentioned by Liam Dempsey's dying bodyguard, shows his face.

Watch the teaser below:

The debut episode of Westworld Season 3 is now streaming on HBO's various mobile platforms.