Apple TV's 3-Part Hard Sci-Fi Masterpiece Is Basically The Expanse With A Star Wars Budget

Published Oct 20, 2026, 12:30 PM EDT

Tom is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, with expertise covering everything from hilarious sitcoms to jaw-dropping sci-fi epics.

Initially he was an Updates writer, though before long he found his way to the TV and movies team. He now spends his days keeping Screen Rant readers informed about the TV shows of yesteryear, whether it's recommending hidden gems that may have been missed by genre fans or deep diving into ways your favorite shows have (or haven't) stood the test of time.

Tom is based in the UK and when he's not writing about TV shows, he's watching them. He's also an avid horror fiction writer, gamer, and has a Dungeons and Dragons habit that he tries (and fails) to keep in check.

When Disney and Lucasfilm started making Star Wars shows for Disney+, sci-fi fans suddenly had access to blockbuster small-screen adventures with budgets that almost defied belief. Disney+ subscribers no longer needed a cinema ticket to watch Hollywood spend extraordinary sums transporting them across the galaxy. However, spectacular spending and spectacular storytelling are different achievements.

Despite their polish, few Disney+ Star Wars shows are considered among the 21st century’s best sci-fi series by fans of the genre. This accolade regularly goes to The Expanse, which turned a considerably smaller budget into a gripping political conflict whose ingenious world building and trust in its audience ensured it became beloved. This divide is exactly why Apple TV+’s Foundation should be generating much more interest. It’s storytelling with ambition comparable to The Expanse that’s delivered with the visual confidence of a Star Wars production.

Debuting in 2021, Apple TV+’s Foundation turns the novels by Isaac Asimov into a grand narrative about the struggle to preserve civilization as a galactic empire approaches its predicted collapse. The production quality is lavish, but its aesthetic grandeur never distracts from the incredibly deep narrative. It’s an expensive adventure with more nuance and complexity than any of Disney’s small-screen visits to the galaxy far, far away.

Foundation Delivers Cerebral Sci-Fi With A Blockbuster Budget

Star Wars will always be iconic, but the slew of Disney+ series is proving more and more that when it comes to TV, audiences need more than thematically shallow futuristic fantasy adventure. Most sci-fi fans want the breathing room of a television series runtime to bring more depth and complexity rather than something that essentially feels like an incredibly long movie broken up into chunks. This is why The Expanse is held in much higher regard than every Star Wars TV show despite having a much smaller budget (with, perhaps, the notable exception of Andor).

The Expanse takes time to establish why humanity could conquer space and still argue about who deserves clean water. Rather than non-stop spectacle chasing, it dives into how scientific discoveries could deepen existing inequalities and the day-to-day realities of life among the stars. Foundation takes that same fascination with human behavior and apples it to an entire galactic civilization. However, while they both have astounding levels of depth, their budgets are worlds apart.

The Expanse reportedly cost approximately $4-5 million per episode during its Syfy years (via Sunny Mui). Foundation’s complete budget remains undisclosed by Apple, though the widely repeated $45-$50 million figure is thought to have only covered its first season’s production spending (via Forbes), with later seasons possibly costing as much as $10 million per episode (via CBR). Still, while this is a larger budget than The Expanse seasons 1-3, it’s not quite as much as Disney is willing to invest in its Disney+ Star Wars shows, and the difference is staggering.

The Mandalorian reportedly started at around $15 million per episode (via IGN), and total spending for Andor reached over $700 million across two seasons (via Forbes). Despite having nowhere near the same financial backing, Foundation easily feels just as visually polished as any Disney+ Star Wars series. The grand scenes in Foundation would never feel out of place in a Star Wars show, but the jaw-dropping spectacle isn’t the focus but a storytelling tool for a narrative just as cerebral as that of The Expanse.

Only Apple TV+ Could Release A Show Like Foundation

Isaac Asimov’s name carries enormous weight in science fiction, but he’s far from a household name for viewers who aren’t devout fans of the genre. Star Wars, meanwhile, instantly creates attention through brand recognition alone. It’s easy to understand why Disney would risk sinking millions of dollars into a Star Wars series. The popularity of the IP makes it seem like far less of a gamble than Apple investing significant funds into an adaptation of comparatively obscure hard sci-fi novels.

Apple’s business model explains why the streamer is willing to take these kinds of risks. Apple TV+ was reportedly losing more than $1 billion annually in 2025 (via Variety). However, this isn’t a surprise for Apple, and it’s a loss that the company can tolerate. While a standalone entertainment business would be under considerably greater pressure with similar levels of investment, Apple's fortunes extend far beyond whether enough people finish the latest season of Foundation.

Unlike Disney and Disney+, Apple’s relationship with Apple TV+ isn’t that of a company seeking a new revenue stream. For Apple, Apple TV+ is, essentially, a brand management and marketing tool. A company whose reputation is built on premium laptops, tablets, and smartphones benefits from attaching its name to premium entertainment. A series as visually accomplished and intellectually ambitious as Foundation reinforces that identity. Its value extends beyond the money it generates directly.

Disney has its own sprawling commercial ecosystem, but Star Wars spending comes with an established audience intended to soften the risk. Apple has greater freedom to build that audience around unfamiliar screen worlds. Alongside hits like Severance and Silo, Foundation helps cement Apple TV+’s reputation for giving ambitious science fiction the resources its imagination deserves.