[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Margaret Atwood<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0The Testaments<\/em> novel.]<\/strong><\/p>\n The Testaments<\/a><\/em>, a spinoff of Hulu<\/a>\u2018s The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/a><\/em>, is coming out in 2026. Hulu recently shared the first look at the new series<\/a>, starring Ann Dowd<\/a> as Aunt Lydia,\u00a0One Battle After Another<\/em><\/a> breakout star Chase Infiniti<\/a> as Agnes\/Hannah, and Lucy Halliday<\/a> as Daisy. The characters are the main\u00a0protagonists of the Margaret Atwood novel<\/a> of the same name.<\/p>\n The cast also includes Rowan Blanchard<\/a> and more. Creator and showrunner Bruce Miller<\/a> says the series will show a completely \u201copposite\u201d side of Gilead than fans are used to seeing. Here\u2019s everything there is to know about The Testaments<\/em> now that The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em> has ended<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Testaments<\/em> premieres in April 2026 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers in the U.S. and on Disney+ internationally. An exact premiere date will be announced at a later time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Testaments<\/em>\u00a0is based on\u00a0Margaret Atwood<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0Booker Prize-winning novel<\/a>\u00a0of the same name, which was published in 2019 and takes place in the dystopian theocracy of Gilead. Years after the events of\u00a0The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>,\u00a0The Testaments<\/em>\u00a0is a coming-of-age story that finds a new generation of young women in Gilead grappling with the bleak future that awaits them. For these young women, growing up in Gilead is all they have ever known, having no tangible memories of the outside world prior to their indoctrination into this life. Facing the prospect of being married off and living a life of servitude, they will be forced to search for allies, both new and old, to help in their fight for freedom and the life they deserve.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about growing up Gilead,\u201d Miller told Deadline<\/a>. \u201cIt feels like exactly the opposite world. These are\u2026the most precious girls in Gilead. And yet you start to realize they\u2019re walking a plank as well, just like the Handmaids. Hannah has to deal with the June inside of her, [and] all of a sudden she starts to feel mighty, mighty, mighty rebellious.\u201d<\/p>\n Miller also explained how The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>\u2018s final season prepared Aunt Lydia\u2019s rebellious side for The Testaments<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very different for her this season [in The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>], because she has she\u2019s trying to expand her power,\u201d Miller explained. \u201cShe\u2019s trying to work her power in other places, places that are not just with the Handmaids, but the wider world. Lydia is trying to do a very difficult job well, and I think she realizes over time that these girls are valuable on their own and is trying to kind of figure out a way to do her job that she\u2019s said \u2018I\u2019m going to do,\u2019 and also recognize the humanity of these girls that she can\u2019t quite ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n Dowd told TV Insider<\/a> that\u00a0The Testaments<\/em> is set \u201cfour to five years\u201d after the end of\u00a0The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>.\u201d Aunt Lydia is still devoutly religious and living in Gilead in the series, but as seen in Episodes 8 and 9 of The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>\u2018s final season, she\u2019s had a huge moral change and no longer supports the men in power in the oppressive regime. Rather than work with Handmaids, Lydia is the leader of a new social class called the Pearl Girls. These girls have chosen to be in Gilead, which is of the utmost importance to this new Lydia. Dowd says that Lydia is more \u201cprotective\u201d than she is rebellious in\u00a0The Testaments<\/em>. In this spinoff, Lydia is asking herself what Gilead means to her now.<\/p>\n Lydia and the Pearl Girls are \u201cliving a life that Lydia believes in, and the fact that these Pearl Girls come of their own volition, they make the decision to come and wish to be healed, they\u2019re very, very precious to Lydia as always,\u201d Dowd told TV Insider. \u201cThat remains the same, her devotion to her girls. It\u2019s not the Handmaids in The Testaments<\/em>, it\u2019s the Pearl Girls. The Handmaids are still part of Gilead, but that\u2019s not what we\u2019re focusing on in\u00a0The Testaments<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Hulu<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Dowd, Infiniti, and Halliday were the first stars announced. Blanchard will be a series regular in the debut season. She plays Shunammite, \u201ca pampered teen from a prominent Gilead family whose status affords her a certain level of respect and power amongst her peers,\u201d per\u00a0Deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n Amy Seimetz plays Paula, \u201cthe hard-shelled homemaker and fearsome stepmother to Agnes,\u201d per Variety. The younger version of Hannah\/Agnes is played by Jordana Blake<\/a> in The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>. Alexander plays Garth, \u201ca young Commander who becomes involved in the personal lives of the girls he\u2019s sworn to protect.\u201d Li plays Aunt Vidala, \u201cthe stern heir-apparent to the women\u2019s sphere of Gilead.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional new cast announced on April 1 are Zarrin Darnell-Martin<\/a> as Aunt Gabbana, Eva Foote as Aunt Estee, Isolde Ardies as Hulda, Shechinah Mpumlwana as Jehosheba, Birva Pandya as Miriam, and Kira Guloien<\/a> as Rosa.<\/p>\n Infiniti was most recently seen in Apple TV+<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0Presumed Innocent<\/em>, her first major role. Halliday is a newcomer as well. Her feature film debut was in 2022\u2019s\u00a0Blue Jean<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>for which she won a Scottish BAFTA Award for lead actress. She was also nominated for a British Independent Film Award in 2022 for that performance. Halliday recently wrapped filming on James McAvoy<\/a>\u2018s California Schemin\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n Agnes is the name given to June and Luke\u2019s daughter, Hannah, after she\u2019s kidnapped by Gilead and taken in by a commander and his wife. Baby Nichole from The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>, June and Nick\u2019s daughter, is a character in\u00a0The Testaments<\/em>. Her smuggling out of Gilead and into Canada makes her a martyr-like figure for Gilead.<\/p>\n After learning shocking details about her life, Daisy sneaks into Gilead using the name Jade to try to gather intel that could bring down Gilead for good. Agnes, meanwhile, trains to become an aunt (Aunt Victoria) after she\u2019s horrified to learn of Gilead\u2019s customs that would see her married off to a commander at a young age. She gets involved with Mayday, the organization working to bring down Gilead, and meets Daisy in the process.<\/p>\n Infiniti\u2019s casting as Agnes confirms that The Testaments<\/em> is doing a time jump. And with heavy source material such as this dystopian novel, it\u2019s for the best that kids aren\u2019t taking on these roles.<\/p>\n The Testaments<\/em> takes place after the events of The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em> and tracks the lives of Lydia, Agnes, and Daisy through alternating POVs. All three are questioning their relationships with Gilead. The series is created and showrun by Bruce Miller<\/a>.<\/p>\n Viewers already know Lydia and Agnes. Daisy is a young Canadian teen whose life is changed forever when she learns of her connection to the Republic of Gilead.<\/p>\n The Testaments<\/em>\u00a0was published in 2019 and is the official sequel to the original book published in 1985. In it, the three main characters recount what happened after the final moments of the first book, when June Osborne was taken by The Eyes (this took place at the end of The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em> Season 1, and all plot since has been created by the show for the show). The fate of Gilead after that moment is revealed in the sequel.<\/p>\n The Testaments<\/em> is set 15 years after the end of Season 1, which allows The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>\u2018s show plot to exist in that time between. June and Luke never got Hannah back in the original series, but they were still looking for her, albeit separately.\u00a0The Testaments\u00a0<\/em>will show what Hannah\u2019s life looks like now. Aunt Lydia has a surprising development in\u00a0The Testaments<\/em>, one that aligns with her waning support of Gilead shown in The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>\u2018s final season.<\/p>\n Miller stepped down from his role on the Emmy-winning drama to refocus his efforts on The Testaments<\/em>. This was announced in March 2023 in\u00a0Variety<\/a>. He had served as showrunner for every season prior.<\/p>\nWhen does The Testaments<\/em> come out?<\/h2>\n
What is\u00a0The Testaments<\/em> about?<\/h2>\n
Who is in\u00a0The Testaments\u00a0<\/em>cast?<\/h2>\n
What happens in The Testaments<\/em>? Does June ever get Hannah back?<\/h2>\n