The story of June Osbourne and Gilead may be nearingits “big and wild” conclusion, but that doesn’t mean the world established in Margaret Atwood’s 1985 futuristic novelThe Handmaid’s Taleis leaving the screen. As fans of the Elisabeth Moss-starring Hulu original series awaitThe Handmaid’s TaleSeason 6 premiere next year, they are already looking ahead to the planned spinoff,The Testaments.
Written by Atwood as the second book in the series,The Testamentsis set 15 afterThe Handmaid’s Tale, which Hulu first adapted for the screen in April 2017. The award-winning series stars Moss as June, who is forced to serve as a handmaid in Gilead, the patriarchal, totalitarian state that has overthrown the United States government. After moving through its source material in the first season, the series moved away from Atwood’s novel and embarked on its own path in the following seasons, which showed June sparking an uprising against Gilead and eventually escaping to Canada.
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The Handmaid’s Taleis set to conclude with itssixth and final season, which is currently slated for a spring 2025 premiere. Although Season 6 will mark the show’s last, it will not mark the end ofThe Handmaid’s Taleuniverse. More than three decades afterThe Handmaid’s Talewas published, Atwood released a sequel novel, The Testaments, in 2019. The novel is now poised to become a Hulu original series. Keep scrolling to see everything we know about Hulu’sThe Testamentsadaptation.
Is The Testaments confirmed?
Thankfully, fans won’t have to wait around hoping thatThe Testamentswill be ordered. MGM and Hulu in 2019 announced that they woulddevelopThe Testamentsinto a TV adaptation, with Steve Stark, President of Television Production at MGM,saying at the time, Margaret Atwood is a literary icon who continues to delight and challenge readers through her provocative and compelling prose. She has been an incredible creative partner and resource to MGM throughout the production of Handmaid’s and we look forward to working with her on the story’s exciting next chapter.”
It was also reported at the time that MGM and Hulu were in talks with Bruce Miller, showrunner of The Handmaid’s Tale, about how the The Testaments can become “an important extension” to the original series.
What Is The Testaments About?
A sequel toThe Handmaid’s Tale,The Testamentsis set 15 years after the events of the 1985 novel. Published in 2019, the novel is narrated by three women with ties to Gilead – Lydia, a divorced judge-turned-Aunt who secretly despises Gilead and becomes a mole supplying critical information to the Mayday resistance organization; Agnes Jemima, a young woman raised in the oppressive society as the daughter of Commander Kyle and his wife Tabitha; and Daisy, a Canadian teen who learns she was actually born in Gilead.
Details for Hulu’s adaptation of the series are scarce, though it seems likely that the show will follow a very similar plotline and will focus on those three central characters. Miller recently toldThe Hollywood ReporterofThe Handmaid’s Tale‘s approaching conclusion, “when that time ends, luckily, very fortunately, we get to go intoThe Testaments, which June’s story is a part of but not central to. It’s a perfect creative situation that we get to peel off but maintain our connection with all of our characters that we’ve built and loved, and all of the actors. The part that is heartbreaking and terrifying is to leave the actors behind.”
Release Date
Unfortunately, years after the announcement that the series was picked up, a release date still has not been announced forThe Testaments. With The Handmaid’s Tale set to premiere in spring 2025, it seems likely that fans will have to wait a bit longer for The Testaments, which likely won’t be released until 2026 or later.
Cast
Given how little information has been shared aboutThe Testaments, it comes as little surprise that the cast for the upcoming series has not been announced. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a few guesses as to who could feature in the show. Given her narrating role in the book, it seems almost guaranteed that Ann Dowd will reprise her role as Aunt Lydia in the sequel show. In fact, recent seasons of the flagship series have evenhinted at Aunt Lydia’sThe Testamentsstoryline, with the character at one point suggesting a complete restructuring of the handmaid system and vowing “to do things differently.”
Dowd herself hasexpressed interest in appearing on the show, sharing during a 2021 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, “I’m just going to say it right now, I thought to myself I hope they’re going to let me play her.”
It is also possible that Bradley Whitford will reprise his role as Commander Lawrence. Although he is not a character in Atwood’s book, Lawrence was introduced in The Handmaid’s Tale as the architect of Gilead, meaning he is central to the creation of the society that has been depicted throughout the past five seasons ofThe Handmaid’s Tale.
Some have also theorized that the Agnes from the book could be the Agnes in the show, or rather, June Osbourne’s daughter, who was stolen from her and is now being raised in Gilead by Commander and Mrs. MacKenzie, who renamed her Agnes MacKenzie. It’s just as likely, though, that the Agnes from The Testaments could be a different character entirely.
The Testaments‘ Most Recent Updates
Although little more info has been shared about The Testaments since the original 2019 announcement, Miller toldThe Hollywood Reporterin late 2022 that he was “technically checking boxes,” explaining that “because the worlds are slightly different with timing, and all the things that are different between a television show and a novel, I have to figure out all of those little things. I’m trying to lay the groundwork.”
Most recently, Disney executive Craig Erwich confirmed toDeadlinein February that the spinoff show is still in the works.
“The Dan Fogelman show is something we’re really excited about.The Handmaid’s Taleis going to production this summer, premieres in 2025. In development we haveThe Testamentsbehind that, which is an extension ofThe Handmaid’sfranchise so we have a very robust slate of scripted programming that we’re really excited about,” he shared. “Again, our strategy – and it’s one that works across the entire company – is a focus on quality versus quantity, not just in terms of how we produce the shows but also in bringing them to market.”
