Apple TV+With Foundation Season 3 ending with a bang, you might be wondering: will there be a Season 4? Here’s everything we know after an exciting update from Apple TV+.
It might not be the biggest streaming service in the world, but Apple TV+ is home to some of the best content ever made. Severance, Slow Horses, The Morning Show, Masters of the Air – the list goes on.
Foundation is just as acclaimed, with the series adapting Isaac Asimov’s legendary sci-fi novels of the same name. Set thousands of years in the future, it tells the story of a band of exiles on their journey to save humanity and rebuild civilization amid the crumbling Galactic Empire.
With the Season 3 finale out now, attention is turned to what comes next, and we’ve got some good news for you. Warning: spoilers for Season 3 ahead!
Will there be a Foundation Season 4?
Yes, Apple TV+ confirmed Foundation Season 4 is going ahead.
The news arrived on September 11, 2025, just before the Season 3 finale aired, with co-showrunners and executive producers Ian Goldberg and David Kob confirming the renewal.
In a joint statement, they said (via The Hollywood Reporter): “There is no series quite like Foundation, and we feel lucky and honored to be carrying the torch forward as co-showrunners into Season 4.
“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.”
Is there a release date?
Apple TV+Since it’s only just been renewed, there is no release date just yet. However, Season 4 is due to start filming in 2026, meaning we can predict we’ll get new episodes sometime in 2027.
This would follow the same schedule as the previous seasons. The first debuted in September 2021, while the second came in July 2023.
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The latest Season 3 premiered in July 2025, which is a slightly longer gap, although there were the Hollywood strikes to factor in. If it follows the same pattern, then summer 2027 is a safe bet, but nothing is set in stone for the time being.
Who will be in the cast?
Apple TV+While no cast has been confirmed yet, it’s safe to assume several familiar faces will be back, including:
- Jared Harris as Hari Seldon
- Lou Llobell as Gaal Dornick
- Synnøve Karlsen as Bayta Mallow
- Terrence Mann plays Brother Dusk
- Cassian Bilton plays Brother Dawn
- Troy Kotsur as Preem Palver
- Cherry Jones as Foundation Ambassador Quent
- Alexander Siddig as Dr Ebling Mis
- Cody Fern as Toran Mallow
- Brandon P Bell as Han Pritcher
- Tómas Lemarquis as Magnifico Giganticus
- Leo Bill as Mayor Indbur
As for Lee Pace’s Brother Day and Laura Birn’s Demerzel, it’s unclear whether they’ll return after the events of Foundation Season 3. But given the show’s love of clones, flashbacks, and twists, don’t rule them out entirely.
Foundation Season 3 ending explained
Apple TV+The Season 3 finale of Foundation delivered chaos, tragedy, and a seismic shift for the Empire. One of the biggest twists is the reveal of the Mule’s identity.
Gaal manages to defeat the Mule – or so it seems. It turns out he’s been a decoy all along. Bayta emerges, revealing she is the true Mule, having been manipulating events from the shadows.
Speaking to the Radio Times about this unexpected twist, which is a departure from the books, Synnøve Karlsen said, “Knowing that there was this twist that was going to come, it just made her even more of an exciting character.
“I think she can come off slightly kind of thoughtless or careless at the beginning so once I found that out, it was such an exciting element for me.”
Apple TV+But that isn’t the only shocking turn in the Apple TV+ series. Brother Dusk, preparing for the end of his life, chooses to take the entire Cleon dynasty with him. In a grisly sequence, he destroys the clone tanks that would have produced future rulers, ending centuries of genetic continuity in one brutal act.
It seems as if he’ll spare a single infant clone, but he instead takes the baby to where he’s due to be euthanized by a beam of light. Demerzel, compelled by her programming, throws herself into the beam to protect the child, destroying her body in the process.
Brother Day tries to avenge her, but with his nanites removed, he stands no chance. Dusk strikes him down, cementing himself as the only Emperor.
All that being said, amid the devastation, there are glimmers of hope. Demerzel’s final act sends Ambassador Felice Quent to Trantor’s library, where the hidden Second Foundation is revealed to still be active.
At the same time, a clasp between robots hints that Demerzel may not have been as alone as she thought.
Prior to their deaths, Day handed Demerzel a robot head, and at the end of Foundation Season 3, it manages to complete the clasp – essentially a robot hive-mind – and transmit to others across the universe.
In the final shot, we see the robots on the receiving end and it looks like they’re on our planet Earth’s moon.
Season 4 plot speculation
Apple TV+Foundation Season 4 now faces a galaxy with no ruling dynasty, a Second Foundation stepping into the light, and the Mule’s true form ready to challenge Gaal again.
As Llobell told the Radio Times, “She’s off on the Beggar’s, she doesn’t know where the Second Foundation is, and now has a new Mule to deal with, and she doesn’t really know the powers of this one. Now she has to reassess everything that’s happened.”
Meanwhile, the robot clasp and Kalle’s appearance alongside another machine at the end of Season 3 teases the adaptation’s next big swing: a robot revolution.
The Second Foundation is also bound to become central. As in Asimov’s novels, its shadowy influence may start to steer events, bringing new characters and factions into play as humanity’s fate hangs in the balance.
With Dusk carrying the Prime Radiant and Demerzel’s sacrifice fresh in memory, the pieces are in place for Foundation to shift into its most ambitious arc yet.
While we wait for more updates, check out the new TV shows streaming this month, the best series of 2025 so far, and everything coming up with our 2025 TV release calendar.