The world that author Isaac Asimov presents in his Foundation series (which nearly got the big-screen treatment) is just one corner of a larger universe the legendary sci-fi visionary tied together in his vast library of stories. This portion alone runs through seven books and covers about a millennium of history that’s supposed to precede a forthcoming dark age. It’s a lot of ground to cover, and those with an Apple TV+ subscription should be excited as creator David S. Goyer has an eight-season plan in place so he can tell the whole story. But just how much has he shared with his writers and actors?
That was one of the questions I asked the producer when I sat down to speak with him during the press day for Foundation Season 2’s 2023 TV schedule debut. With such a wide spread of events to cover and a huge cast of characters playing out those events, he certainly needs a roadmap to successfully tell such a story.
The good news is that David S. Goyer does have a foundation (no pun intended) for the series’ future, and it’s relatively far-reaching. However, the bad news is that the mastermind behind it all is mostly tight-lipped. Goyer confirmed as much to CinemaBlend, while providing this explanation for all the secrecy when it comes to withholding information from the actors of Foundation:
I don’t share a lot, because I don’t want them to ‘play the future,’ as it were. We leave some of the characters at the end of Season 2 in a very specific place, and I didn’t tell our series regulars where they go from here. When we start a season, obviously, they get the scripts in sequence, and eventually, they get to the end of the season, and they realize where they’re going. But I tend to withhold information.
As the shadow of Psychohistory’s prophesied fall of humanity looms over the events now in play, we, the audience, know certain peaks and valleys are inevitable. In his own opinion, the Batman Begins writer doesn't want to cloud any of the performances from his cast with too much foreknowledge. This strategy for keeping Foundation secrets ironically fits with how the series’ arc has been playing out so far.
With Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) providing a blueprint for trying to mitigate what could be a 30,000 year-long dark age, knowledge is literally the power at the basis of the salvation this "Foundation" is supposed to provide. In Season 1, events already deviated slightly from how the dead mathematician originally planned. And when it comes to Season 2, there's the looming threat of even more tangents forming.
All the while, specific instructions are given to the trusted parties that are turning the cogs in the show's overall machine. When something changes, so too does the solution to bring it all back on course.
David S. Goyer's decision to withhold knowledge from his actors makes a lot of sense. That's because the long game between those who side with Seldon's "Foundation" and the opposing Galactic Empire is still in its beginning stages. However, Goyer has gone even one step further by keeping details from his writers' room as well. That fact is what prompted Goyer to reveal a fun anecdote to CinemaBlend regarding how his colleagues even questioned his plans:
I mean, we were working on the very tail end of Season 2 with the writers, and I just offhandedly mentioned something that would happen in Season 3. These are writers that have been with me for the last four years, and they said, ‘Wait, what?! What are you… wait, what?! That happened?!’ And I said, ‘Oh yeah, yeah. That was in the back of my head the whole time.’ They’re like, ‘But why didn’t you say anything?’ I said, ‘I didn’t want you to write in the future either.’ There are just certain things that I’ve planned that I’m just keeping to myself, until the appropriate time.
Playing those plans close to the vest may be a very good idea right now. At the time of this writing, production of Foundation Season 3 hasn’t shut down in the wake of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. That could change at any moment, however, as Deadline’s reporting on fellow Apple production Silo Season 2 shutting down mentions that while unconfirmed, production on the Jared Harris-led series is expected to pump the brakes as well.
Should that occur, who knows what shifts may need to take place to put things back on track for completion. That’s something David S. Goyer will have to figure out, as events continue to unfold. As time goes on, he'll likely be influenced to reveal only the information needed for the next step at hand. Just as the loyal followers of Hari Seldon trust his plans to lead the way, so must the fans -- and cast and crew -- of Goyer's creation.
At the moment, you can watch Foundation Season 2, as well as the entirety of Season 1, through Apple TV+. New episodes will be released every Friday, straight through to the current season finale, which is set to debut on September 15th. So you still have time to catch up and read more about Lee Pace’s nude Season 2 fight scene in all of its glory.
