Foundation Recasts The Mule For Season 3 With Game Of Thrones Actor
Foundation's cause continues to grow.
Game of Thrones alum Pilou Asbæk has joined the sci-fi series as Warlord aka The Mule for Season 3, TVLine has confirmed. He replaces Mikael Persbrandt, who briefly appeared as the character in Season 2.
Asbæk steps in as a series regular along with Cherry Jones (Succession) as Foundation Ambassador Quent; Synnøve Karlsen (Bodies, Medici) and Cody Fern (American Horror Story) as Bayta and Toran Mallow, who in the books were a newlywed couple searching for the Second Foundation in the hopes of stopping The Mule; and Brandon P. Bell (Dear White People) as Han Pritcher, a loyal servant of The Mule.
Meanwhile, Tómas Lemarquis (Bladerunner 2049) will play Magnifico Giganticus, known in the books as a fugitive and The Mule's former court jester; Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing (Really Love, Love Is) will take on the role of Song; and Leo Bill (Becoming Elizabeth) will portray Terminus' ineffective Mayor Indbur.
The Mule is a powerful and monstrous Mentalic who rises to prominence in the future with the intent of conquering the galaxy. He (played by Persbrandt) previously appeared in Gaal's vision during the Season 2 episode "A Glimpse of Darkness," in which he brought destruction to the Foundation and nearly strangled her to death. And in a surprising twist, Salvor — who was originally meant to be murdered by The Mule later on — was assassinated in the Season 2 finale by a child Mentalic under Tellem's mind control. The Mule then popped up 152 years later vowing to kill Gaal.
"When Asimov created [the Mule], it was a character that flipped the whole table over," series co-creator David S. Goyer previously told TVLine in a finale post-mortem interview. "When the Mule enters the story properly in Season 3, that's completely what he does... As crazy as the end of Season 2 is, Season 3 is even crazier. You haven't seen anything yet."
Our sister site Deadline first reported the casting.