'The Testaments': Release Date, Cast, and Everything We Know About 'The Handmaid's Tale' Spinoff

Hulu’s critically acclaimed series The Handmaid’s Tale may be coming to an end this April, but the streamer isn’t done with the dystopian universe created by Margaret Atwood. As the story of June Osbourne and Gilead prepares to reach its “big and wild” conclusion, Hulu is currently in development on its next adaptation from the famed author, The Testaments.

Written by Atwood as follow-up to her 1985 futuristic novel, The Testaments is set 15 after The Handmaid’s Tale, which Hulu first adapted for the screen in April 2017. The award-winning series stars Elisabeth 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. In the upcoming sixth and final season, slated for a three-episode premiere on April 8, “the revolution is here.”

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More than three decades after The Handmaid’s Tale was 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’s The Testaments adaptation.

Is The Testaments confirmed?

Thankfully, fans won’t have to wait around hoping that The Testaments will be ordered. MGM and Hulu in 2019 announced that they would develop The Testaments into 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.”

Deadline reported in February that the series is “nearing a series greenlight.”

The upcoming sequel is created by Bruce Miller, who also serves as showrunner and executive produces alongside fellow Handmaid’s Tale executive producer Warren Littlefiend.

What Is The Testaments About?

A sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments is 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, all while keeping a subtle presence of characters from the flagship show. Speaking about moving from The Handmaid’s Tale to The Testaments, he previously told The Hollywood Reporter that “when that time ends, luckily, very fortunately, we get to go into The 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.”

Cast

While The Testaments is still in the early stages and there have been few announcements, it was reported in February that Presumed Innocent star Chase Infiniti has been cast as Agnes, one of three leads.

Infiniti joins Ann Dowd as the only two cast members announced so far. Dowd will reprise her Emmy-winning role as Aunt Lydia. Recent seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale have hinted at Aunt Lydia’s The Testaments storyline, with the character at one point suggesting a complete restructuring of the handmaid system and vowing “to do things differently.”

Outside of Dowd, it’s unclear if any other stars from the flagship show will appear in the sequel. Hulu reportedly “hopes” for Moss to return in her role as June, but that isn’t yet confirmed. In Atwood’s book, June’s children, Daisy and Agnes, are two of the protagonists. In the show, June also has two children – Hannah (known as Agnes in Gilead) and Nichole.

Which ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Characters Could Return

In addition to likely appearances from Moss as June, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a few other familiar faces appear in The Testaments, including June’s children, who would be aged up for the sequel.

It’s also possible that Bradley Whitford could reprise his role as Commander Lawrence. Although he is not a character in Atwood’s book, Commander 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 of The Handmaid’s Tale.