Westworld‘s Jimmi Simpson Weighs In On Enticing “Man In Black” Theory

The more invested we become in a show, the more theories we tend to conjure up. HBO's latest sprawling series, Westworld, is no exception; as you may have gathered, we're obsessed. One popular theory making the rounds involves two of the main characters: the seemingly villainous Man in Black (Ed Harris) and the valiant William (Jimmi Simpson). Basically, fans think they could be the same person. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Simpson lightly weighed in on the validity of the theory, though, of course, he didn't reveal much. Asked how he feels about it, the actor told THR, "First of all, I'm just flattered, because that man is so badass. Second of all, I can't comment on anything. I wish I could say how wrong or right you are, but you guys have to wait just like we did." Wow, Simpson. Way to leave us hanging! He added that he feels for the audience because he was just as curious (and lost) when he first read each episode's script. "As far as knowing what's about to happen, we were all just as hungry for the scripts each month as you guys are for the episodes each week," he said. So, he isn't saying the theory is true, but he's definitely not saying it's wrong, either. We might be onto something big here, guys. For those of you whose first response to this theory was, Wait, what? — allow us to explain. Since the hosts stay the same, the theory goes that we are seeing a sort of before-and-after of William — when he first comes to the park (Simpson), and when he finally masters it 30 years later (Harris). If this is true, then we the viewers get to see how addicting and powerful the park can be over time. This would also mean that we are watching two different timelines of the same man's life. The only thing that could totally debunk this theory would be a meeting between the Man in Black and William. This week's episode, "Dissonance Theory," adds a bit of fuel to the fire when William metaphorically agrees to "put on a black hat," or play the villain.