The first season of Westworld (opens in new tab) was a dizzying jaunt around the Old West, filled with a whole bunch of obscure clues and references to the park’s history. It stands to reason, then, that the first major reveal of Westworld season 2 (opens in new tab) – its setting and a possible main character – may have just come from an unexpected place: an exclusive Funko Pop.
You may think, well, it doesn’t look like anything to me but Funko’s batch of Westworld Funko Pops (opens in new tab) (that you can only pick up at San Diego Comic-Con) but it includes a fitting nod to the oft-rumoured Samurai world, which was glimpsed occasionally in concepts in the back-end of the first season. Take a look at the samurai below, all kitted out in traditional garb and wielding a killer sword.
Not only that, but this samurai’s got a name: Musashi. Funko may have simply wanted to avoid a generic ‘samurai’ name for its figure, but the reasoning probably goes a lot deeper than that. Someone had to greenlight this name, and it feels strange to introduce a named character that wasn’t (as far as we know) in the first season. It definitely feels like the most solid confirmation we’ve had yet of a Samurai world.
Alongside Musashi, there’s also a Young Ford, complete with removed face. Which isn’t creepy at all.
Is Musashi one of the major new characters in season 2 of Westworld? Only time will tell. Or, in the show’s case, time probably won’t tell and we’ll be stuck digesting madcap Westworld theories (opens in new tab) every week about who is or isn’t a Host…
Image: HBO