Foundation season 4: Release date speculation and latest news

The series, which is based on Isaac Asmiov’s stories of the same name, first debuted in 2021, and has gone on to build a loyal fanbase and positive reviews from critics over the years.

Earlier this year, star Jared Harris acknowledged that "trying to attract a fanbase and an audience base towards a show takes time", while saying that the original plan for the series was for it to run for 8 seasons.

"There's no way of knowing whether they'll achieve that," he said. "The only way of knowing if we'll achieve that is people tune in. If people are watching, then they'll be encouraged to make more seasons."

So has that happened this time around, and will the team behind the show get another season on their road to completing the story?

Read on for everything you need to know about Foundation season 4.

Will there be a Foundation season 4?

There will! One day before the Foundation season 3 finale was released, it was confirmed that the show would be continuing with a fourth run.

This perhaps wasn't too great a surprise – after all, earlier this year it had been reported that Apple had chosen Fear the Walking Dead's Ian Goldberg to act as new co-showrunner and executive producer on the series for a fourth season, alongside David Kob.

In a statement, the two showrunners said: "There is no series quite like Foundation and we feel lucky and honoured to be carrying the torch forward as co-showrunners into season four.

"We look forward to continuing the epic, emotional, storytelling that defined the first three seasons of the show, and to be working alongside some of the most talented, passionate creative partners in the business."

Meanwhile, Matt Cherniss, head of programming at Apple TV+, said: "It’s been fantastic to watch Foundation become such a global phenomenon, with fans tuning in from every corner of the world.

"With each new season, the excitement around this trailblazing sci-fi epic just keeps building due to the bold storytelling and collective artistry of this extraordinarily talented cast and creative team. We’re excited to keep exploring this universe together in season four."

Ahead of the show being renewed, Radio Times spoke exclusively with the cast of the show about their hopes for the future.

Synnøve Karlsen said: "I just hope that there is this epic send off that it deserves. I feel like the show's been like building towards this moment for such a long time, so it would be exciting to see that play out."

Meanwhile, Lou Llobell said: "We're lucky enough that we've had three [seasons] and the third season has been incredible and amazing...it's been received really well, and that's just really exciting.

"And I've gotten to play Gaal in a way that I haven't gotten to explore her before. And if it went further, it would be watching her evolve even more than she already has."

When will Foundation season 4 be released?

Unfortunately for fans, it is likely to be quite a substantial wait until we get to see Foundation season 4. As the show is a big, effects-heavy sci-fi series, it tends to take a long time to produce.

Thankfully, we can at least say previous seasons have arrived on fairly consistent timelines, with two years between each run.

Given this, we would expect to see season 3 sometime around summer 2027. We will keep this page updated as and when we get any more concrete news.

What will happen in Foundation season 4?

We don't yet know exactly what would happen in a fourth season of Foundation, not least because the series hasn't been afraid to depart from Isaac Asimov's source material.

However, we can speculate given where season 3 ended up. That season's finale saw Gaal finally face the Mule, whose identity was revealed to actually be Synnøve Karlsen's Bayta, rather than Pilou Asbaek's character.

In season 4, we would expect to see Gaal form a new plan about how to face this version of the Mule now that her identity has been revealed.

The final scenes of the season also set the stage for a robot revolution, with the Brazen Head initiating a clasp. Meanwhile, the very final shot showed Earth, which has never been seen in the show before. We would therefore expect the planet will play some role in the story going forward.

Who would return to star in Foundation season 4?

The cast of Foundation season 4 hasn't been officially confirmed yet, but we would certainly expect most of the central players to return, including Jared Harris as Hari Seldon, Lou Llobell as Gaal Dornick and Synnøve Karlsen as Bayta Mallow.

However, there are a couple of characters we're less likely to see – for instance, Laura Birn and Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing are both unlikely to return, after their characters Demerzel and Song perished in season 3.

We're also currently uncertain whether we will see more of Lee Pace as Brother Day. He died in the season 3 finale, but as he's a clone we would usually expect him to come back regardless. However, this time we also saw all of the clones being killed – so there's a chance he won't be back this time.

All that said, Pace is still listed as one of the executive producers on season 4, so perhaps he will return on screen too.

Here's a list of all the central stars from season 3 that we would expect to see in season 4 at this point:

• Jared Harris plays Hari Seldon
• Lou Llobell plays Gaal Dornick
• Terrence Mann plays Brother Dusk
• Cassian Bilton plays Brother Dawn
• Alexander Siddig as Dr Ebling Mis
• Troy Kotsur as Preem Palver
• Cherry Jones as Foundation Ambassador Quent
• Synnøve Karlsen as Bayta Mallow
• Cody Fern as Toran Mallow
• Brandon P Bell as Han Pritcher
• Tómas Lemarquis as Magnifico Giganticus
• Leo Bill as Mayor Indbur

Is there a trailer for Foundation season 4?

There isn't a trailer for Foundation season 4, and there won't be for some time, as it hasn't started shooting yet.

We will make sure to add any new footage in here once it is released, and in the meantime you can rewatch the trailer for season 3 now.

Foundation seasons 1-3 are available to stream in full now on Apple TV+.

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