While many people are scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping before the holiday actually arrives, HBO and HBO Max have delivered a whopper of a gift that'll probably eclipse most other last-minute offerings. The network and streaming service unveiled a shared promo for all the massive shows debuting in 2022, with first looks galore at new seasons for hits such as Westworld (Season 4) and The Flight Attendant (Season 2), as well as debuting series like the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon and many more. Check it all out above before getting into some closer introspection below.
2022 looks to be a massive year for the premium cable network and its sister streaming service, with lots of big returning series coupled with all-new premieres. I know I cannot wait to see more from the hilarious Righteous Gemstones ensemble, and interest is also high for Julian Fellowes' Downton Abbey follow-up The Gilded Age. But my sci-fi-addled brain is admittedly most interested at the moment in those first looks at the long-awaited fourth season of Westworld.
The very second shot of the trailer is of Thandiwe Newton's Maeve walking around on a windy day, which doesn't really give fans a whole lot to speculate about. (Beyond maybe a source direction for the wind, but that's hardly fun.) But then I guess that's part of the point, since each of the first looks at Season 4 are quick, fairly static, and provide barely any clues about what's coming next. We don't even get to see the face of returning star Jeffrey Wright as wayward host Bernard, who was last seen covered in dust and returning from a (mental) trip to the Valley Beyond. It looks like he's emerging from a shipping container in the video, but it's obviously hard to pinpoint details without further footage.
And then we have Aaron Paul's Caleb in the shot just above. I'm going to try hard not to just wail bemusedly about his hair hanging in his face, while wondering if Caleb joined a pop-punk band in the aftermath of Season 3. But where is he exactly? Everyone looks fairly dressed up around him. Is it a wedding? A church service? A spelling bee? Is this possibly Suit Jacket World, one of Delos' least promising new parks?
If you want to spell trouble, then Ed Harris' Man in Black is your guy. Although he's technically not a "man" anymore, per se, with the human version being killed off in the Season 3 finale and replaced by the host version. But he's obviously still close enough to the real thing to go out wandering in the real world with Caleb and other biologically natural creatures. I can't imagine his stare in the image above is one that will lead to pleasantries.
And the final new look at Westworld Season 4 is arguably its most vague one. It seems like this would be following up on the aftermath in the Season 3 finale, though I guess there's not enough chaos and destruction. Could one of those unidentified characters be our first confirmation of Evan Rachel Wood's return as Delores?
There are seemingly even fewer new shots from Kaley Cuoco's Emmy-nominated HBO Max dramedy thriller The Flight Attendant. Beyond an early shot of Cuoco looking surprised — something this show is downright full of — there's the intriguing shot above, with the character Cassie sitting at a bar in front of myriad liquor bottles. Considering Cassie was meant to be getting control of her drinking problem following the events of Season 1, this may not bode well for her willpower and self control. Had she been frowning or in distress, that'd have been one thing, but that smile feels a little suspect.
Even though we have all these awesome new looks at HBO and HBO Max's new shows, the premiere dates are another issue entirely, since almost all of those are still up in the air. But be sure and bookmark our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see all the new and returning shows on the way!
