First teaser trailer: Season 2 will be Foundation's 'Second Crisis' on Apple TV+ from 14 July.

by Thinus Ferreira

The psychohistorian character of Hari Sheldon might be dead but actor Jared Harris is still very much alive in the upcoming second season of Foundation which will debut on Apple TV+ on 14 July and which just released its first teaser trailer.

The science fiction drama series based on the book series of Isaac Asimov will tackle the Foundation's "Second Crisis" during the second season, in the scientific outpost's growing battle with the waning Empire and its ruling emperor Cleon clones, portrayed by Lee Pace.

The second season, produced for Apple by Skydance Television and led by showrunner and executive producer David S. Goyer, will have 10 episodes with the season that will start on 14 July globally, with a new episode released weekly on every Friday.

Although Hari Sheldon died during the first season, Jarred Harris will again appear as the creator of psychohistory through backflashes, as well as the version of him as an articial intelligence (AI) after hehad  uploaded his consciousness into the Foundation computer.

"More than a century after the season one finale, tension mounts throughout the galaxy in Foundation season two," says Apple TV+.

"As the Cleons unravel, a vengeful queen plots to destroy Empire from within. Hari, Gaal and Salvor discover a colony of Mentalics with psionic abilities that threaten to alter psychohistory itself," reads the season's official logline.

"The Foundation has entered its religious phase, promulgating the Church of Seldon throughout the Outer Reach and inciting the Second Crisis: War with Empire. The monumental adaptation of Foundation chronicles the stories of four crucial individuals transcending space and time as they overcome deadly crises, shifting loyalties and complicated relationships that will ultimately determine the fate of humanity."

Also starring the returning cast of Laura Birn, Cassian Bilton and Terrence Mann, the second season will introduce new characters including Isabella Laughland (Brother Constant), Kulvinder Ghir (Poly Verisof), Ella-Rae Smith (Queen Sareth of Cloud Dominion), Holt McCallany (Warden Jaegger Fount), Rachel House (Tellem Bond), Nimrat Kaur (Yanna Seldon), Ben Daniels (Bel Riose) and Dimitri Leonidas (Hober Mallow).

Apple TV+ drops first teaser about Isaac Asimov's sprawling Foundation sci-fi series.

by Thinus Ferreira

Although the series will only be released in 2021 Apple TV+ has surprised viewers by releasing a first teaser of the upcoming science-fiction drama Foundation, based on Isaac Asimov's iconic book series.

Although production of the epic series filmed in Ireland by Skydance Television as that country's largest TV series ever, was shut down in mid-March because of the growing global Covid-19 pandemic, the series with showrunner and executive producer David S. Goyer has clearly done a lot of filming and post-production work already.

The 10-episode first season of Foundation is based on Isaac Asimov's seminal science fiction series about a mathematician in the far-flung future, when mankind has spread through the entire galaxy, predicting the fall of the Galactic Empire and setting up a way to limit the duration of the destruction to preserve humanity.

There are 6 books in the series with Foundation that was first published in 1951.

The official logline from Apple about Foundation is that "the series will revolve around the thousand year saga of the Foundation, a band of exiles who discover that the only way to save the Galactic Empire from destruction is to defy it".

Mathematician Hari Seldon invents psychohistory which can broadly "predict" human behaviour and behavioural patterns on a massive scale, and he constructs a plan to shorten the predicted new "dark age" of the Galactic Empire by setting up the "Foundation".

With this "predictability power" Hari, of course, becomes a threat to the galactic government that doesn't understand what he's trying to do, setting of sprawling interplanetary intrigue with a lot of surprising twists and characters who often are not who they initially appear to be.

In the teaser for the Apple Original, David S. Goyer gives a glimpse into the making of the epic saga, that stars Jared Harris as Hari Seldon; Lee Pace as Brother Day; Lou Llobell as Gaal; Leah Harvey as Salvor; Laura Birn as Demerzel; Terrence Mann as Brother Dusk; and Cassian Bilton as Brother Dawn.

"People have been trying to make Foundation for over fifty years," says David S. Goyer.

"Foundation was an enormous influence for Star Wars. It was the greatest science fiction work of all time. The story is sprawling, it unfolds over the course of a thousand years. If ever there were a company that was hoping to better people's lives through technology, through connectivity it's Apple. And that's something very much that Asimov was hoping to do."