‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Spin-off ‘The Testaments’ Is Even More Relevant Now

When Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale debuted in April 2017, its timing felt prescient in a way very few season premieres had ever before. Hot off of President Donald Trump’s first inauguration and at the cusp of what we now know as the #MeToo movement, Gilead and the U.S. seem more similar by the day. Will viewers have the strength to watch a possible future unfold on The Handmaid’s Tale spin-off? Based on author Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel of the same name, the show landed like a cautionary tale, a blatant prophecy, or perhaps both.

Set in Gilead — a country meant to resemble a North America in which women are largely considered baby-churning chattel — The Handmaid’s Tale was often gut-wrenching. It also offered a glimpse into a future that seemed frighteningly more probable by the day. Its themes of rebellion metaphorically mirrored footage of protest marches aired by major news channels, resonating deeply at a time when rights which pertained to bodily autonomy were under severe threat — none more so than Roe v. Wade, which made abortion a constitutional right in 1973.

Now, less than a year after The Handmaid’s Tale aired its six-season run, and mere months before its spin-off sequel The Testaments is set to premiere in April 2026, the timing couldn’t be any more ominous. One year into Trump’s second term, the previously codified right to reproductive agency has been made all but or completely illegal in over a dozen U.S. states. At a time when the word “Gilead” feels less like a noun and more like an active threat, The Testaments is bound to hit viewers even harder thanThe Handmaid’s Tale did nearly a decade ago.Will it all be too much for audiences to bear? Or will The Testaments serve as a much-needed rallying cry?

‘The Testaments’ Will Run Because ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Walked

Agnes wears a white dress in The Testaments

Hulu

The Testaments, adapted from Atwood’s much-anticipated 2019 sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, takes place 15 years after The Handmaid’s Tale’s finale, and includes a cast rife with newcomers, like the show’s lead, Golden Globe nominee Chase Infinitiand Ann Dowd, who will reprise her role as Aunt Lydia. Per the show’s official press release (via The Hollywood Reporter), viewers will be immersed in a Gilead more familiar than not:

“The series follows young teens Agnes, dutiful and pious, and Daisy, a new arrival and convert from beyond Gilead’s borders. As they navigate the gilded halls of Aunt Lydia’s elite preparatory school for future wives, a place where obedience is instilled brutally and always with divine justification, their bond becomes the catalyst that will upend their past, their present, and their future.”

Like its forerunner, it appears that The Testaments Season 1 will begin somewhat faithful to its source material, both in narrative and in tone. And while it is unclear if Elisabeth Moss, who played The Handmaid’s Tale protagonist June (née Offred), will say goodbye to her character for good onscreen, Moss’ new role as the spin-off’s executive producer is a de facto promise that June’s pansophical presence will be channeled into the spin-off’s major themes. What makes this all the more important is that those same feminist and anti-authoritarian overtones will likely be reinforced by real-life extradiegetic threats.

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Spin-Off Comes at a Pivotal Time In History

June lines up with the other women in The Handmaid's Tale

For evidence of this, look no further than Moss’ 2025 interview with MovieWeb, in which she recounted that seeing mere camera tests for the new cast was enough to bring her to tears. “I cried, because seeing these incredible young women inhabit these characters and new costumes and seeing the story carry on in this younger generation… I was very moved by it,” Moss explained. She continued:

“There’s this younger generation who’s going to carry on with this fight, and that was just very moving to see. I think the balance has been finding something that, obviously, there’s a built-in audience of Handmaid’s Tale fans, and you want to fulfill the promise of that for them, but also bring it to a new place, because you don’t want to make the same show. So you want it to be different. I think that everyone has done a really good job of leaning into making it a new show that can stand on its own.”

After reading Moss’ words, it’s easy to think that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Roe v. Wade’s overturning in 2022 incited a domino effect, one which brings us closer to living in a Gilead of the U.S. government’s making with every click and clack.

Take Obergefell v. Hodges, for example, the landmark case that resulted in granting queer couples the same rights to marriage as their straight counterparts. Presumably, it’s a right The Handmaid’s Tale‘s pre-theocratic Gilead granted the show’s main queer character Emily (Alexis Bledel) before she was forced, as a handmaid, into the role of a dehumanized breeder, and survived unspeakable torture based on her sexuality alone. When rights are taken away from one group, it’s more likely they’ll be taken away from others. The Handmaid’s Tale hammered home this message time and time again, and The Testaments will likely carry on that tradition. But will it be enough for viewers to keep paying attention?

The Built-In Fan Base for ‘The Testaments’ Might Not Guarantee Success

Mattea and Agnes lock arms in 'The Testaments' — Mattea and Agnes lock arms in The Testaments

Despite the fact that The Testaments will definitely have relevant political themes, there’s no denying that we’ve entered the age of brain-soothing media, a form of escapism in which viewers are more apt to put on a TV show in the background and play a game on their phones rather than fully engage with what they’re watching.

Pointing this out isn’t an act of judgment or virtue signaling. After years of pandemic-era doomscrolling, it makes sense that new forms of self-soothing have become de rigueur. But it also means that something The Testaments is relying on — specifically, its built-in fan base — might be its Achilles heel. The reason? Whether it’s true or not, some might feel like the popular 2010s series The Handmaid’s Tale has already imparted its feminist themes and egalitarian lessons to its followers.

To keep viewers hooked, The Testaments will need something new to say, especially at a time when so much has (or possibly will be) snatched and thrown just beyond our grasp. So will The Testaments win out? Only time will tell — assuming we have enough of it left.

The first three episodes of The Testaments will be available on Hulu/Disney+ on April 8, 2025.