- Pilou Asbaek has outlined what fans can expect from his villain in Foundation season 3
- The Mule is an incredibly powerful antagonist who threatens Empire and The Foundation
- The series newcomer has also revealed why it’s so fun to play villainous characters
Foundation season 3 will introduce the show’s most terrifying villain yet in The Mule – and Pilou Asbaek has teased what viewers can expect from his take on the fan-favorite antagonist.
Speaking to TechRadar ahead of Foundation‘s return on July 11, Asbaek revealed his version of the character will be something of a departure from how he’s depicted in Isaac Asimov’s book series namesake.
In Asimov’s best-selling novels, The Mule is a weedy individual who proves looks can be deceiving. Indeed, The Mule is one of the most powerful Mentalics – humans who possess incredibly potent psychic abilities – to ever live in Asimov’s fictional universe. Due to his weak appearance, he’s constantly underestimated by his foes, which allows him to conquer vast swathes of the galaxy before The Imperium or The Foundation can muster a response to the growing threat he poses.
The Mule retains his telepathic superpowers in Apple’s live-action adaptation. But, as Foundation season 3’s official trailer revealed, he’s a far more physically imposing character than he’s presented in the books.
“He needs to be a big, immediate threat to Empire and The Foundation,” Asbaek told me of the decision to make The Mule taller and more muscular in the Apple TV+ space opera. “So, he’s physically different. He’s a pretty big, wide guy who’s also more roguish, brutish, and impolite than he’s described in Asimov’s brilliant books.”
The Mule’s altered build is less of a surprise when you think back to last season. As I covered in my Foundation season 2 ending explained piece, The Mule makes a brief cameo before the finale’s end credits sequence rolls. The unhinged villain, who was played in that scene by Mikael Persbrandt before he was replaced by Asbaek as part of a season 3 cast shake-up, was similarly tall in stature. So, there’s some continuity between Persbrandt and Asbaek’s iterations of the character from a physicality perspective.
Nevertheless, Asbaek is well aware that some long-time fans of Asimov’s literary works might take exception to how The Mule is depicted in one of the best Apple TV+ shows. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he’s already prepared himself for any potential backlash.
“I’ve done a few adaptations – Ghost in the Shell and Game of Thrones (GoT), for example – so I’ve been down that path,” he mused. “I know that some people will like it [my take on The Mule] and some won’t, but it’s my job to make the best possible version in collaboration with the creative team.
“I didn’t know Mikael had done it, but I knew of the show and what I wanted to bring to the character,” he added. “It’s the same thing as someone doing an adaptation of a Shakespearean play. We’ve seen a million different versions of Hamlet, so this is just my interpretation of The Mule.”
As for how The Mule differs from GoT‘s Euron Greyjoy, the unlikeable and power-hungry character that Asbaek played in one of the best HBO Max shows, or any other villain he’s played, Asbaek said: “He’s probably the most human one I’ve ever played. He’s got the biggest storyline I’ve had with playing a villain, but he’s also the most chaotic, tortured soul of of them all. I’m not going to spoil it, but I can say you’ll get a sense of why [that’s the case].
“At the end of the day, he’s just a little boy who wants to be loved,” Asbaek continued. “I was very inspired by French novel ‘The Little Prince’. That’s also the reason why he [The Mule] wears a red coat, because I wanted to look like the Little Prince, who comes to our world because he wants to know what it is to be human and have emotions. That’s the only thing that The Mule doesn’t have. He’s one of a kind and, throughout this season, you’ll find out what happens when he doesn’t get what he wants.”
Are you excited to see Asbaek as The Mule? Let me know in the comments. And, before the sci-fi epic’s next installment arrives, read my Foundation season 3 review to see if it’s better than its predecessors.