Handmaid’s Tale Isn’t Ending After The Final Season
After The Handmaid's Tale ends, a show based on Margaret Atwood's sequel novel The Testaments is on the way.
Fans of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale already have two more seasons of the Emmy-winning series to look forward to, but now it looks like they’ll be getting even more. Series creator, showrunner, and executive producer Bruce Miller has confirmed that Margaret Atwood’s sequel novel, The Testaments, will also be brought to the small screen. Miller talked more about the adaptation in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, and he confirmed that the upcoming adaptation of The Testaments wouldn’t be affecting their story for The Handmaid’s Tale. He says “The Handmaid’s Tale should be good on its own and when it’s done, it should be a nice little TV set that you put on the shelf next to the novel, and it hopefully adds to your enjoyment of it, and then you can move onto The Testaments.”
For anyone tired of every movie or series working to set up future installments and sequels, this approach sounds like a breath of fresh air. The Handmaid’s Tale has long held the rapt attention of TV audiences since it first hit screens in 2017. It seems like the creators are fully dedicated to giving fans closure to the series they’ve been following for years. So not only will we be getting a definitive ending to the TV series that stands on its own, but we’ll get a sequel series that can stand on its own too.
For those who have missed the series so far, The Handmaid’s Tale is based on the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name. It tells the story of a dystopian future where women are second-class citizens and are forced to live as reproductive surrogates under an oppressive patriarchal theocratic dictatorship. The series stars Elizabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Ann Dowd, O-T Fagbenle, Joseph Fiennes, Madeline Brewer, Max Minghella, Samira Wiley, and more. The series has been nominated for tons of Emmys and has taken plenty home. Its first season did especially well at the Emmys, taking home eight awards including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Directing, and Outstanding Lead, Supporting, and Guest Actress awards for Elisabeth Moss, Ann Dowd, and Alexis Bledel respectively.
With two seasons to go for The Handmaid’s Tale, there should be plenty of Emmy nods and wins to come. The series will premiere its fifth season next week and the sixth and final season will be coming our way sometime in 2023 or later. It might be a little while before we see The Testaments, but with the continued success of The Handmaid’s Tale, it wouldn’t be surprising if Hulu and MGM fast-tracked the project to come out relatively soon after The Handmaid’s Tale. After all, it’s best to strike while the iron is hot. When The Testaments does come to our TV screens, it will be adapting the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name, which takes place 15 years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale. The novel is narrated by Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) from the previous novel; Agnes, a woman living in Gilead; and Daisy, a woman living in Canada. We’ll keep you updated for more news on The Testaments series, but make sure to tune in for the Season 5 premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu on September 14.
