Philip K. Dick, the author of the now cult classic film Blade Runner, has been dead for 35 years and left the world, his daughter Isa Dick Hackett says, in relative “obscurity.” But that hasn’t stopped Amazon from mining Dick’s treasure trove of Twilight Zone-esque novels and short stories for consumption by today’s less dubious audience, whose appetites have been whetted by ominous current events.

“I could do with being in a less current show and a better world, frankly,” admitted Rufus Sewell, who plays American Nazi John Smith in the alternate history reality of The Man in the High Castle, which returns to Amazon for a third season sometime in 2018.

“We’re telling the story, bit by bit, of how we can get incrementally used to horrors and distract yourself with the minutiae of your life,” Sewell said at New York Comic Con on Friday.

“When horror becomes mundane, it is very dangerous,” agreed Jason O’Mara (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) who joins the cast in the third season.

O’Mara, who says he binge watched the first and second season “like a fan,” is excited about where the story goes in season three, but admitted he couldn’t reveal many details about his character. “I can say he’s not a Nazi, he’s Irish…and we discover him in the neutral zone but he won’t stay in the neutral zone forever.”

And although Amazon’s preview clip of the third season revealed a plot thickened by a “multi-verse” and time travel, the show’s cast and producers insist that the heart of the show is unchanged.

“It’s always about people – it’s not about the tech, it’s not about the sci-fi, it’s about what makes us human,” shared Hackett, who serves as an executive producer for both High Castle and Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, an anthology series that pulls from her late father’s extensive collection of short stories, also debuting on Amazon in 2018.

Executive Producer Dan Percival agreed, saying the show’s essential message is “how our own complicity in evil allows it to thrive…the point of the show is to question our choices.”

The third season will also bring some more interesting historical characters into the mix to add to Hitler and his ilk, including an alternate reality version of J. Edgar Hoover. The producers admitted that while it’s fun to bring famous historical personas to light in a different version of history, it can also be a challenge. “We have this huge burden or responsibility to be both realistic and creative,” said Percival.

Alexa Davalos, who plays female lead Juliana Crain, said she’s looking forward to the developments that season three brings. “It’s the first time I’ve spent this much time with a character…I’m living with her, she’s developing while I’m developing…it’s a little worrying actually!” she joked.

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