In the wake of planetary destruction, robot revelations, and some eye-catching mind powers, Apple TV's most impressive sci-fi series will now lay dormant until it's revived like yet another Cleon from the Principium. We're already counting down the days until the Foundation season 3 release date around.
Foundation certainly has plenty of story left to tell. Using Isaac Asimov's ambitious series of books as a jumping-off point, it has grown in unusual directions to become one of the best sci-fi series on our screens. We might not quite be experts on psychohistory just yet, but we spent hours this year watching one of the best Apple TV shows unfold. We might not know as much about the future as Hari Seldon, but here's what we've got.
Foundation season 3 release date speculation
We expect to see Foundation season 3 in 2025 now that Apple has officially given the green light for more episodes.
The 2023 Writers Strike held Foundation in stasis after the conclusion of season 2, but Apple officially announced the renewal of one of its best TV series in December 2023. We can start getting excited now for real.
Before the renewal, showrunners David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman revealed that they have the story planned until the end of a fourth season, as well as certain milestones beyond that. However, they're prepared to adapt depending on how much more of the show they get to make. We hope they get plenty of time to expand the world.
As for a timeline, we're sure that the team will be hard at work on the scripts for season 3 as we speak. We imagine that filming will take place in the second half of 2024, ahead of a summer 2025 release date. That sounds plausible, but we have our fingers crossed for something sooner. It can't come quick enough.
Foundation season 3 cast speculation
Jared Harris and Lou Llobell are very likely to lead the Foundation season 3 cast as Hari Seldon and Gaal Dornick, while Laura Birn will almost certainly return as the android Demerzel and we'd expect to see more of Mikael Persbrandt as dangerous villain The Mule.
In the final scene of Foundation season 2 episode 10, the story jumped 152 years into the future. We saw The Mule, in the heat of war, vowing to find and destroy Gaal Dornick before she could find him. Persbrandt will have far more to do in the third season after looming over season 2 as an ambiguous but deadly future threat.
Dornick and Hari Seldon both entered cryosleep at the end of season 2, vowing to emerge for a day each year to watch over the Mentalics as they become the Second Foundation. So we know they're both very likely to make it into the future.
The question, though, is whether this future timeline will be the only one in Foundation season 3. We learned during the second season finale that the First Foundation survived the destruction of Terminus by escaping into the Vault. But they can't live for another 150 years. We expect we'll spend some time visiting them, as well as jetting off into the future.
As for the Empire, android puppet master Demerzel will still be around and we saw her decanting three new Cleons. So, despite the best efforts of Cleon XVII and his plans for Queen Sareth, the Genetic Dynasty lived on. We'll be seeing the latest Cleons when the new season comes around.
Possible Foundation season 3 cast list:
- Jared Harris as Dr Hari Seldon
- Lou Llobell as Gaal Dornick
- Laura Birn as Demerzel
- Lee Pace as Brother Day
- Terrence Mann as Brother Dusk
- Cassian Bilton as Brother Dawn
- Ella-Rae Smith as Queen Sareth
- Isabella Laughland as Brother Constant
- Kulvinder Ghir as Poly Verisof
- Mikael Persbrandt as The Mule
- Oliver Chris as Director Sermak
What will Foundation season 3 be about?
The Foundation season 3 plot will delve into the future and deal with Seldon's Third Crisis, as well as the conflict between the Mentalics and The Mule.
We know that Gaal and Hari are going to check in once a year on the Mentalics, guiding them as they grow into the Second Foundation after the death of Tellem Bond (Rachel House). They're ultimately headed for a conflict with The Mule, who has very strong Mentalic powers of his own.
Demerzel also has a huge part to play in the future, having tried to reset the Genetic Dynasty by decanting three new Cleons at once. With the core DNA of the Cleons apparently corrupted centuries ago, she may find future Emperors even harder to control than the three who almost brought the whole edifice down in season 2.
There's also the small matter of the rogue Brother Dawn, who's due to have a baby with Queen Sareth. Can Demerzel let that happen?
The rest of the story depends completely on whether the show exists solely in the future after that enormous 150-year time jump, or whether we check in with the First Foundation. We'd certainly love to see more of Brother Constant, Poly, and the rest of them.
Goyer has promised that things are going to get wild, explaining in an interview with The Wrap that he thinks season 3 is the best one yet. "If people think episode 9 and episode 10 this season were crazy, you haven't seen anything yet. It's bonkers what happens in Season 3."
We gave Foundation season 2 episode 9 a rapturous five-star review, so it's fair to say that the show will have to conjure something very special indeed to match up to its finest hour. Goyer seems confident though, and that makes us very excited.
Is there a Foundation season 3 trailer?
There isn't a Foundation season 3 trailer just yet and we're expecting a long wait because the show hasn't started production.
But while you wait for the return of Hari Seldon and his centuries-spanning masterplan for the future of humanity, it's time to take a look behind the scenes. There are some terrific visual effects in Foundation and this featurette spotlights how they achieved some of the biggest moments.
Where can I watch Foundation season 3?
Foundation season 3 will stream exclusively on Apple TV Plus, just like the previous seasons.
You can revisit both of the first two seasons of Foundation on Apple right now, while there's plenty of other great sci-fi to watch, including Invasion and For All Mankind. That's not to mention completely different stuff like one of the best comedy series around, Ted Lasso, and the genre-bending whodunnit The Afterparty.
How many episodes will be in Foundation season 3?
We expect Foundation season 3 to run for ten episodes, to match up with seasons one and two.
That's everything we know about Foundation season 3 for now, but we'll update this guide with any dispatches from Trantor or Ignis in the near future. We've also explored why Foundation's biggest Asimov book change is actually for the best and explained why Raych killed Hari Seldon, as well as discussing how Foundation season 2 made meaningless deaths meaningful.
In the meantime, learn more about the future for one of the best streaming services with updates on the Severance season 2 release date. We've also explained why For All Mankind is the natural successor to Star Trek.