Foundation: all the latest on Apple’s sci-fi epic – The Verge

Apple’s sci-fi epic Foundation is back for season 3 in July

2025-05-07T09:14:15-04:00

One of Apple's biggest series will start streaming again this summer. The company announced that season 3 of Foundation will hit Apple TV Plus on July 11th, with new episodes weekly through September 12th. As part of the announcement, Apple also released the first teaser for the third season.

The show originally premiered in 2021, and is an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's classic series of sci-fi novels, which span multiple centuries and follow the rise and fall of an empire, and a group intent on saving civilization in the aftermath. It stars Jared Harris, Lee Pace, and Lou Llobell, all of whom are returning.

In addition to the teaser, Apple …

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Apple’s sci-fi epic Foundation is coming back for season 3

2023-12-05T10:18:45-05:00

The universe of Foundation is set to expand. Apple announced that the sci-fi streaming series, based on the classic stories by Isaac Asimov, will be coming back for a third season. There aren't many details yet on what to expect - or when to expect it - but in a statement, showrunner David S. Goyer had this to say:

I'm thrilled Apple has given us the opportunity to continue chronicling Asimov's pioneering galactic saga. This time, the stakes for Foundation and Empire are even higher as the Mule takes center stage, along with fan-favorites Bayta, Toran, Ebling, and Magnifico Giganticus.

Foundation first debuted in 2021 as perhaps the most a …

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Foundation’s showrunner explains why big book adaptations start so dang slow

2023-07-13T08:00:00-04:00

Lou Llobell in season 2 of Foundation. | Image: Apple

Adaptations of big, complex books tend to start slow - and that's usually because there's just so much to explain. It was true of Game of Thrones and The Rings of Power, and it was especially true of Foundation on Apple TV Plus, which took Isaac Asimov's novels and turned them into prestige television. With unusual concepts like psychohistory (a kind of math that can predict the future) and a genetic dynasty (a never-ending line of clone emperors who rule the galaxy), the first few episodes of season 1 were bogged down by exposition.

According to David S. Goyer, showrunner on Foundation, there really wasn't a way to avoid that. "I felt like …

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There’s a lot of sci-fi streaming this summer

2023-07-04T11:49:46-04:00

Cassian Bilton and Lee Pace in season 2 of Foundation. | Image: Apple

It's already been a pretty eventful summer for science fiction fans. Last week saw the finale of Apple's post-apocalyptic series Silo, Strange New Worlds season 2 is keeping Star Trek going through August, and Disney Plus is still in the midst of Secret Invasion, its alien conspiracy offshoot of the MCU. Oh, and there's the return of Black Mirror. On top of all of that, there are also a number of series making their debut in the coming weeks and months - so many, in fact, that you might need a little help plotting out your precious free time. So here's a handy list to make life a little easier.

Foundation season 2

Apple TV Plus - July 14th

Ap …

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Foundation’s season 2 trailer is a battle 100 years in the making

2023-06-13T10:00:00-04:00

It's going to be a sci-fi summer over on Apple TV Plus. The streaming service is getting a second season of the epic series Foundation in July, and a new trailer gives a good sense of what viewers can expect: namely, a much more action-packed experience compared to season 1.

The new season takes place a century after the previous one and has the Empire, led by a menacing Lee Pace as Brother Day, preparing for an all-out conflict with the titular Foundation, a group led by Hari Seldon (Jared Harris).

Here's the basic setup:

As the Cleons unravel, a vengeful queen plots to destroy Empire from within. Hari, Gaal, and Salvor discover a colony …

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Foundation’s second season kicks off in July

2023-05-11T10:00:00-04:00

One of Apple TV Plus' biggest series is coming back for a second season this summer. Today, the streamer announced that season 2 of Foundation - the sci-fi epic based on the stories of Isaac Asimov - will premiere on July 14th. The new season will be 10 episodes long, with new episodes dropping on Fridays, and you can get a brief taste in the debut teaser trailer above.

Foundation debuted back in 2021 and was notable in particular for its complexity, with a story that spanned multiple centuries. The second season will continue that tradition by taking place quite a long time after the first. Here's the description:

More than a century afte …

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Foundation’s first season loses itself in its century-spanning story

2021-11-20T10:00:00-05:00

Foundation's first season has officially wrapped with its season finale, which saw the first chapter of Apple TV Plus' most ambitious show come to a conclusion.

The epic sci-fi show, based on Isaac Asimov's centuries-spanning series of novels, has grown far beyond its quasi-magic space math from the initial episodes, spinning out different storylines ranging from drama in the Foundation's newfound home of Terminus to the byzantine imperial politics of Trantor.

In the wake of the finale, The Verge's Chaim Gartenberg and Andrew Webster are revisiting the show to see what worked, what didn't, and what they're hoping to see in the already-an …

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Foundation is getting a second season on Apple TV Plus

2021-10-07T17:56:01-04:00

Foundation has been renewed for a second season on Apple TV Plus, Apple announced today, ahead of the release of the fourth episode of the first season on Friday.

The renewal is a vote of confidence from Apple, as one of the flagship shows on Apple TV Plus, meant to help bring in viewers as a prestige genre show in the same way that Game of Thrones does for HBO, The Mandalorian does for Disney Plus, or The Witcher for Netflix. That said, outside of today's press release (where Apple calls the show "a global hit" that "quickly proved to resonate with audiences"), the company hasn't even provided vague estimates of how popular the show has be …

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Apple’s Foundation starts out big, lavish, and a little boring

2021-09-23T21:00:00-04:00

Ever since Game of Thrones, every network seems to want something similar: an expensive genre epic that they can point to as our big thing. This is especially true in the world of streaming. Netflix has The Witcher, Amazon is spending an unseemly amount on Lord of the Rings, and Apple has Foundation, a sci-fi series based on the classic Isaac Asimov novels that kicks off with two episodes on September 24th. (New episodes will debut weekly on Apple TV Plus after that.)

In many ways, Foundation fits that tentpole epic formula quite well. It's a story about the downfall of a galactic empire, with lots of political intrigue to follow. It's also …

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Apple’s new Foundation trailer has some serious ‘Game of Thrones but in space’ energy

2021-08-19T12:16:46-04:00

Apple has released a new trailer for Foundation, its upcoming epic sci-fi show for Apple TV Plus based on Isaac Asimov's series of novels, and I'm getting some serious "Game of Thrones but in space" energy from it. There are vast (space) vistas, a sweeping soundtrack, numerous shots of people making very serious faces, and dramatic proclamations that wouldn't be out of place in an early episode of Game of Thrones:

"Wars will be endless."
"Martyrs tend to have a long half-life."
"Change is frightening. Especially to those in power."

And you know what? That's fine with me. For me, nothing has replicated the excellence of the first few seasons of …

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