Westworld season 2 has added The Wolverine and Life actor Hiroyuki Sanada to its ever-expanding cast. New episodes of the HBO sci-fi series are currently in production, though some fresh Westworld footage has already found its way out to the world via an HBO 2018 preview video.

Adapted from a movie written and directed by Michael Crichton and starring Yul Brynner, Westworld chronicles the violent and sexy goings-on at a futuristic theme park where high-rollers get to live out their Old West fantasies with the help of highly-realistic androids called Hosts. Season 1 challenged its audience via a split-timeline narrative following various characters including the suddenly self-aware Hosts Maeve (Thandie Newton) and Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), the park's enigmatic creator Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) and the mysterious Man in Black (Ed Harris). Season 2 will pick up the action after the catastrophic events of the season 1 finale, which included a bloody massacre that took the life of Robert Ford and set the stage for Dolores' continued evolution.

Related: Watch the SDCC Trailer for Westworld Season 2

As reported by IMDb, The Wolverine actor Hiroyuki Sanada has joined the cast of Westworld season 2, where he will play a character named Musashi. There is no indication right now that the casting of an Asian actor necessarily confirms a fan theory that season 2 will include a new park built around a Samurai theme, though no doubt some will come to that conclusion. Sanada joins Gustaf Skarsgard (Vikings), Betty Gabriel (The Purge: Election Year) and Fares Fares (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) on the list of cast additions in Westworld season 2.

The veteran actor Sanada has accumulated a long, long list of credits in Asian films and TV series including the original Ringu and its sequel Ringu 2. Sanada made his first significant mark in American films as Kaneda in the science fiction movie Sunshine, then went on to score roles in Rush Hour 3, Speed Racer, The Wolverine and 47 Ronin. Sanada played Dogen on the TV series Lost, and later also appeared on the sci-fi series Extant. In 2017, he appeared as Murakami in the under-performing sci-fi/horror film Life.

Details about season 2 of Westworld are being kept under lock-and-key - and with production still underway, it's bound to be awhile before we begin finding out anything substantial about where the series is headed. The few bits that have trickled out are teasing a second season where the Hosts have taken over the park and begun hunting down guests, giving the customers a little more than they bargained for when they bought their ticket for a little harmless Wild West robot fun.

Principal players Evan Rachel Wood, Ed Harris, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright and James Marsden are confirmed to return for Westworld season 2. Other new cast members include Jonathan Tucker (American Gods), Neil Jackson (Sleepy Hollow) and Katja Herbers (The Leftovers).

NEXT: How Evan Rachel Woods Learned About Westworld's Different Timelines

Westworld season 2 premieres Spring 2018 on HBO.

Source: IMDb