Foundation Season 3 Trailer: Explosions, Mind Control, and War

Apple TV+ has released the first trailer for the third season of Foundation, the star-studded, big-budget adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s venerable sci-fi space opera. Fans of Foundation and Asimov’s books will recognize much of the new footage from early press releases about the upcoming season, which has an explosive trailer of its own. The action-packed preview drops ahead of the July 11, 2025, premiere and continues weekly release of episodes through September 12.

The show has taken creative liberties from the first two seasons, even with loose retellings of the first Foundation novel and a second crisis in Asimov’s seven-book saga. The first season included a 138-year jump forward at its conclusion, while the second season explored Asimov’s Second Crisis, a key turning point in his universe that involved an impending war between the Foundation and the all-powerful Galactic Empire. The Foundation, by this point, has also taken its own more extreme tack in the political propaganda wars, weaponizing the religious fervor surrounding its presence. The trailers have also introduced a mysterious new “Mentalics” colony of people with apparently god-like psionic powers.

Season 3 jumps even further forward—152 years after the second season—and situates the series in what fans of Asimov’s work will know as the Third Crisis. Apple TV+’s synopsis of the new season describes the Foundation as having become much more established and pervasive since its early efforts to gain a toehold in an authoritarian Galactic Empire’s space, while the once-powerful Cleonic Dynasty, currently in the control of aging Emperor and mathematician Cleon II, is more in decline. “Caught between enemies old and new,” it continues, “the powers are forced to unite against a threat that could tear all of their work apart: the arrival of the Mule, a warlord with both a growing military and the terrifying power to control minds.”

“Centuries ago, when we predicted the fall of the galaxy,” a dark-voiced Hari Seldon intones near the start of the new trailer, “the Foundation was created to save humanity. But the coming darkness was always the turning point.” That same voice, now emanating from the steadily rising Gaal Dornick, returns near the trailer’s end, with a warning that time may be short: “We’re out of time.”

The Mule, played by Pilou Asbæk, is immediately an order of magnitude more unusual and powerful than the threats of previous seasons. “I can turn enemies into allies. Hate into love,” he calmly intones in the trailer, gesturing to an arena full of downtrodden and ragged-looking laborers. “It only takes a little nudge.” If Asimov’s Foundation novels hold for this season, the Mule is a “mutant” who possesses the power to manipulate the emotions and loyalties of others. The trailer does not disappoint, with explosions, flashes of battle, collapsing cities, and mindless devotion to the Mule in equal measure.

The returning cast is also a who’s who of Foundation regulars, with Lee Pace, Cassian Bilton, and Terrence Mann all returning to play the three imperial clones of Brother Day, Brother Dawn, and Brother Dusk. Jared Harris and Lou Llobell, who play Hari Seldon and Gaal Dornick respectively, are also back, as is Laura Birn as the inscrutable, robotlike, and secret-powerful empress Eto Demerzel.

Season 3 also significantly expands the cast of characters. Alexander Siddig joins as Dr. Ebling Mis, a fervent devotee of Hari Seldon and self-trained “psychohistorian” in his own right. Troy Kotsur also joins the cast as Preem Palver, the leader of an entire planet of psychic individuals. Cherry Jones joins as Foundation diplomat Quent. Brandon P. Bell also joins as Han Pritcher, with Synnøve Karlsen as Bayta Mallow, Cody Fern as Toran Mallow, Tómas Lemarquis as flamboyant celebrity Magnifico Giganticus, Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing as Song, and Leo Bill as Mayor Indbur.

A Galaxy at Stake

Foundation has always found a way to make its version of Asimov’s heady idea of “psychohistory” a key element. A form of sociomathematical calculus, psychohistory can be used to make probabilistic predictions about the patterns of historical events that humanity will experience. The Mule’s ability to not only intimidate and coerce, but to nudge emotions and logic as he pleases, could represent a threat not just to the security of the galaxy, but even to the intellectual model by which they’ve been acting so far.

Visually, the series is not letting up on its galactic-scale ambitions, either. Fans who were holding out for more glimpses of shiny new sets will find big, sprawling space vistas, a treasure trove of rich world-building and design, and enough explosions to make a summer blockbuster jealous. But what the trailer makes clear is how close the emotional stakes are getting for this season. If the third season is indeed the battle of Seldon’s Plan and even the future of psychohistory, the weight of that narrative does come through loud and clear. Can the Empire and the Foundation unite against such a powerful foe? Can psychohistory survive the Mule’s attack on logic and reason itself? And is there even any version of the future where the galaxy is not taken by chaos?

Season 3 looks to have even more going for it with higher stakes, new and expanding layers of character work, and the trademark big-budget world-building the first two seasons have established. Weekly episodes start July 11.