Foundation spoilers follow.
Launched in September 2021, Foundation is the epic Apple TV+ science-fiction series loosely based on the Foundation series of stories by acclaimed sci-fi author Isaac Asimov.
The premise of the show is that in the year 12067 EI (Era Imperial), mathematician Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) predicts that the Galactic Empire is doomed to collapse.
Accused of treason, he and prodigy Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell) are exiled to the periphery world of Terminus, where they plan to build the Foundation, a collection of human knowledge that Seldon believes will shorten the dark age of the Empire from 30,000 years to 1,000.
The first season was filled with twists and turns and ended with revelations about the Genetic Dynasty led by Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton), Brother Day (Lee Pace) and Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann) that need to be explored in a second season.
Foundation season 2 potential release date: When will it air?
Foundation fans can rejoice: As announced in October 2021, the show is getting a second season of 10 episodes.
What to Read Next
"We have been so excited to watch global audiences embrace the captivating, suspenseful and breathtaking thrill ride that is Foundation," Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV+, said at the time (via Variety).
"We know how long fans of these beloved Asimov stories have waited to see his iconic work brought to life as a visually spectacular event series and now we can't wait to showcase even more of the richly layered world, compelling storytelling and stunning world-building in season two."
Showrunner David S Goyer also chatted to Variety about the series being renewed for season two. Based on his comments, it seems there could be potential for the show to go on beyond the next season alone.
"Since my childhood, I've dreamed of how Hari Seldon and Eto Demerzel would look and sound – what Terminus and Trantor would feel like," Goyer said.
"Now, with season two, our audience will get to visit more of Asimov's indelible characters and worlds, including Hober Mallow, General Bel Roise, and all the Outer Suns. I'm thrilled that a whole new generation of fans are reading Asimov's brilliant masterwork. We're playing the long game with Foundation and I'm grateful to my partners at Apple and Skydance for entrusting me with this epic."
The second season began filming in Prague in April 2022, according to The Prague Reporter, and fans were finally treated to a sneak peek at the season with a first-look trailer released at the start of this year.
In addition to teasing the new challenges the Foundation will face in the second season, the trailer revealed that the second instalment will premiere on Apple TV+ in the summer of 2023.
This means we only have to wait a handful of months for new episodes, but check back here for more updates when we get a confirmed release date.
Foundation season 2 cast: Who's in it?
The epic sci-fi series has a huge cast, and we can expect many of them to return for season two, including:
• Jared Harris (Hari Seldon)
• Lee Pace (Brother Day)
• Lou Llobell (Gaal Dornick)
• Leah Harvey (Salvor Hardin)
• Terrence Mann (Brother Dusk)
• Laura Birn (Eto Demerzel)
• Cassian Bilton (Brother Dawn)
Leah Harvey has long been ready to get going. "Season two is really exciting," they told Glitter magazine back in November 2021. "We've already started filming season two.
"I'm obviously at home in London, in my bedroom because I'm not filming at the moment, but they were working hard, and the scripts are great. They're really exciting – lots of twists and turns in there.
"The characters are wonderful. We've got lots of new characters as well. Just like the books, you know, there's kind of a sense of new people coming on every now and then.
"So that's happening as well. We've also got new crises to deal with, preparing for crises. Relationships, we are really going to dig into some relationships, and I'm just really excited to just get back on set and do it all, to be honest. You can ask me later about it all because I just want to do it. I'm excited."
Some of those new characters for season two have also been announced, including:
• Isabella Laughland (Brother Constant)
• Ben Daniels (Bel Roise)
• Kulvinder Ghir (Poly Verisof)
• Ella-Rae Smith (Queen Sareth)
Foundation season 2 plot: What will happen?
The second season will definitely return to the story of the Genetic Dynasty – the ruling clones (known as Cleons) Brother Day, Brother Dusk and Brother Dawn – especially after Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton) was killed at the end of the season for being genetically different to the other clones.
It was then revealed that all three clones were unique and had not had identical genes to the original Cleon for centuries.
In an interview with Newsweek, showrunner David S Goyer spoke about what this plot twist means for season two.
"Part of the fun of the show moving forward, we'll be seeing how different the various Cleons are," he said. "It's part of the jazz that we're playing with Terrence Mann, Cassian Bilton and Lee Pace, because moving forward, even though they're the same actors, some of the characters are going to be very, very different.
"And so one of the things that's exciting about this, this monkey wrench that's thrown into the Genetic Empire, is what does that do when you introduce chaos into that system? What does that do? Because chaos is fun."
There are other revelations that also need to be explored, including the news that Salvor is the genetic daughter of Gaal.
And fans of the original stories are desperate to discover when we may learn more about a second Foundation established by Hari Seldon. It was briefly referred to in the first season, and in the Newsweek interview, Goyer hinted that more would be revealed in season two.
"It's definitely something we’re going to explore, I didn’t bring it up just to not mention it again… Hari has revealed the Second Foundation has a purpose that's, to a certain extent, separate and different from the First Foundation. And we will learn more about what his original intentions for the Second Foundation were in the second season."
Goyer also told Inverse: "To a certain extent, we're dealing with the trilogy, the prequels, and the sequels. But I've remixed them. Some of the elements from the sequels will be showing up in Season 1, and some of the elements from the prequels will be showing up in Season 2."
And expect a lot of foreshadowing to pay off – this isn't a Lost situation, where it's being made up as it goes along.
"I did have to show Apple a roadmap for season two, season three, and season four," Goyer continued. "So a lot of pre-planning went into season one. There are definitely plotlines that we've set up in season one that we hope to bring to fruition in later seasons."
Foundation season 2 trailer: When can I watch it?
Apple released a sneak-peek trailer for the second season of Foundation at the start of this year — and from the looks of it, all eyes are on Gaal Dornick's campaign to save civilisation.
The trailer focused on the Foundation's sacrifices and how they left their homes as they look to achieve their goal. But fans should be in no doubt that their mission is still ongoing.
After the fall of the Empire, the Foundation is poised to rebuild society — but from what we've seen in this teaser, it doesn't look like it will be easy.
Foundation is available to watch on Apple TV+.
Best Entertainment and Tech Deals
Coronation Street X Joanie - Gilroy Retro Newton And Ridley Sweatshirt
Freelance film & TV writer, Digital Spy
Critic and writer Jo Berry has been writing about TV and movies since she began her career at Time Out aged 18. A regular on BBC Radio, Jo has written for titles including Empire, Maxim, Radio Times, OK!, The Guardian and Grazia, is the author of books including Chick Flicks and The Parents’ Guide to Kids’ Movies.
She is also the editor of website Movies4Kids. In her career, Jo has interviewed well-known names including Beyonce, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Cruise and all the Avengers, spent many an hour crushed in the press areas of award show red carpets. Jo is also a self-proclaimed expert on Outlander and Brassic, and completely agrees that Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
Freelancer writer
Sam is an entertainment writer with NCTJ accreditation and a twenty-year career as a film journalist.
Starting out as a staff writer at Total Film, moving up to Deputy Online Editor, Sam was responsible for Total Film’s YouTube channel, where he revolutionised the magazine’s approach to video junkets, creating influential formats that spread to other outlets.
He’s interviewed a wide range of film icons, including directors such as David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Ridley Scott, Michael Bay and Sam Raimi, as well as actors such as Meryl Streep, Nic Cage, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Anne Hathaway, Margot Robbie, Natalie Portman, Kermit the Frog, all of the Avengers and many more.
Sam has also interviewed several comic creators, including Stan Lee, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and he has a zombie cameo in The Walking Dead comic.
In 2014, Sam went freelance, working directly for film studios including Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox and Disney, as well as covering red carpet events for film marketing company PMA Productions.
Sam is the co-host, producer and editor of the Arrow Video podcast, which has seen year-on-year growth since its creation in 2017, gaining over half a million listens in that time.
His byline has appeared in outlets such as Yahoo, MTV, Dazed, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Good Housekeeping among others.
In 2012, Sam made it to the final of the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year competition, and went on to become a filmmaker himself, directing three features that have all played major festivals, and secured distribution – starring in two of them.
Jim Carrey once mistook Sam for Johnny Cash, and John Carpenter told him to ‘Keep up the good work.’ He promises to try his best.
