James Marsden calls 'Westworld' cancellation disappointing: 'I just wish it was about more than financial success'

• "Westworld" star James Marsden said he's disappointed by the show's cancellation.
• HBO pulled the series after the viewership dramatically declined during season four.

"Westworld" fans were hugely disappointed when HBO pulled the plug on the dystopian science fiction series in November after four seasons due to dwindling viewer numbers and a new regime at HBO's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.

The fourth season changed the status quo for the entire fictional world in the show, with androids finally overthrowing the human race. The show had come a long way since solely taking place in the "Westworld" theme park, and cocreator Lisa Joy previously told Insider the writers planned another ambitious story for season five.

And leading man James Marsden recently told Rolling Stone that everyone involved just wanted to finish telling the show's story with a final season.

The star said: "I'd be lying to you if I told you that the way we ended 'Westworld' wasn't a disappointment. I'm never going to speak without gratitude about any of my experiences, but it would have been nice to be able to complete the story we wanted to finish."

Marsden pointed out that "Westworld" was always an incredibly costly production for HBO and Warner Bros. due to the sci-fi nature of its story, but he thinks success shouldn't just be measured by profit.

He said: "I totally understand it's an expensive show and big shows have to have big audiences to merit the expense, I just wish it was about more than financial success."

Marsden added: "But who knows, maybe there's some world where it can get completed somehow. Maybe that's just wishful thinking because I know we had plans to finish it the way we wanted to."

It wouldn't be the first time a show has found new life at a second home. Syfy originally canceled "The Expanse" in 2018, only for Jeff Bezos to save the series and give it new life at Amazon Prime Video. The same thing happened after Fox ended "Lucifer," before Netflix acquired it and produced a new season in 2019.

So it's not impossible that "Westworld" could return for one final outing in the future, and it's clear that Marsden and the rest of the cast would be interested in returning.

The star said: "I love this 'Westworld' family. It was one of those unique opportunities to be part of something where I also would be sitting at home ravenously waiting for the next episode as a fan."