Foundation Sends Lee Pace Back to Space But In a Very Different Role Than Guardians of the Galaxy

Lee Pace returns to outer space in Apple TV+'s Foundation series, but it's a very different experience from Guardians of the Galaxy. Pace feels at home in such sci-fi universes, beginning our interview by listing some of his favorite SFF authors. Marvel fans likely know him best as Ronan the Accuser, the fanatical Kree villain in Guardians of the Galaxy. In Foundation, he plays a more complex but no less zealous character. Or rather, characters. He's Brother Day, the middle member of a trinity of rulers who control the galactic empire, each a perfect genetic clone of the first emperor, Cleon, but at a different stage of life. Brother Dawn is a role that each Cleon takes on in their prime.

"I think it's very different," Pace tells ComicBook.com when asked about how Foundation compares to Guardians. "I mean, there are spaceships in this as well. I had a blast working on Ronan. I thought that character was such a bombastic character that I had such a good time playing.

"I think about Cleon very differently. I'm not really playing a man, I'm playing a series of men who. I'm playing the role that they fulfil for a certain time in their life. As a child reared to learn their lines, learn the blocking, understand what an emperor is and then they inherit that role of supreme power and at a certain point they relinquish it to the next one. So there's this kind of very real cozy family that cares about each other deeply and holds the galaxy in their hands. Of course this is a fantasy. There's a limit to that control. There's the inevitability that things change and so in many ways."

Pace says that, while Foundation is a different viewing experience, he does believe it's one that fans of Guardians of the Galaxy will enjoy. It may require a bit more patience, though. 

"I think it is different from Guardians of the Galaxy," he says. "It's a different kind of investigation. I do think if you like Guardians of the Galaxy, this is probably up your street as well. But it is a different experience.

"And I would also like to say that it is slow. There's a lot of stuff that happens every episode and that stuff is thrilling. But the big ideas of this story reveal themselves throughout the season in a way that it pays off with time when you understand really, okay, this is what we're this is about."

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

You can watch our full interview with Pace in the video above. Foundation will debut on Apple TV+ on September 24th.