#’Only He Can Shorten The Darkness’

AppleTV+ is spending serious money on “Foundation,” an ambitious series from “Batman Begins” writer David S. Goyer which adapts Isaac Asimov’s classic science fiction novels for the small screen. The full review embargo for the first season has not lifted yet, but Apple has released a new two-minute clip from the series to whet audiences’ appetites. And since the show features a couple of hunks like Jared Harris and Lee Pace, it’s easy to work up an appetite, amirite? (*high fives self*)

Jared Harris (“Mad Men”) plays Dr. Hari Seldon, a mathematician who uses an equation to predict the end of a major galactic civilization. The gist of his discovery is that a dark age is coming that will last 30,000 years … unless the people in power take action to minimize that period of suffering to only 1,000 years. If that sounds incredibly relevant to what’s happening with the current climate crisis, that’s because it is. (A recent report from a United Nations climate panel recently confirmed what anyone with a brain has known for years: humanity is essentially doomed unless the world’s major powers make some serious changes now.) But as you can see from this clip, the folks in power – in this case, a godlike emperor character played by “Pushing Daisies” actor Lee Pace – don’t react well to Seldon’s devastating news. Here’s hoping our real-life leaders respond slightly better than this when it comes to our own crisis.

The trailers paint a dazzling visual picture of this show’s incredibly vast scope, but as was the cast with HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” it seems as if some of this show’s best moments might happen when it puts two pros in a room and lets them cook. For much more on “Foundation,” be sure to check out our interviews with Jared Harris, Lee Pace, Leah Harvey, and co-creator/showrunner David S. Goyer.

“Foundation” begins streaming on AppleTV+ on September 24, 2021.