‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Sequel Is Also Being Adapted For Hulu
Last year, award-winning authorMargaret Atwoodannouncedthat she was writing a sequel to her acclaimed novelThe Handmaid’s Tale. It’s calledThe Testaments, and it’s also set in the oppressive religious community of Gilead but told from the perspectives of several characters instead of being in the head of the first book’s protagonist, June (aka Offred).The Testamentshits bookshelves next week, and today multiple reports have confirmed that Hulu and MGM, the companies behind the Emmy-winning TV version ofThe Handmaid’s Tale, are also developing the sequel for Hulu – though it’s still unclear whether this will be worked into the existing show, or if it will be a separate show altogether.
Timefirst broke the news aboutThe Handmaid’s Talesequel show today, andio9received the following statement from a Hulu spokesperson when they inquired about what formThe Testamentsmight take:
The new book, which was supposed to debut onSeptember 10but hasalready been released to a small number of buyersdue to an Amazon retailer error, takes place fifteen years after the end of Atwood’s original novel. That first book ended ambiguously, with June thrown in the back of a van with her fate hanging in the balance. (The first season of the Hulu series followed the book closely even down to that ending, but has since expanded the story in its own directions.)
The Testamentshas three different narrators: a young woman raised in the oppressive society of Gilead; a Canadian teen who learns she was actually born there; and Aunt Lydia, one of the villains of the first book who oversees the handmaids.Ann Dowdportrays Aunt Lydia onThe Handmaid’s Tale, and while it’s still unknown if she’ll reprise the role in whatever visual formThe Testamentsends up taking, she’s returning to voice the character in the new audiobook alongsideBryce Dallas HowardandMae Whitmanas the other POV characters.
Personally, I’d love to seeThe Handmaid’s Talejump ahead to pick up the action with Aunt Lydia and these new characters, because while the third season of the show had the occasional bright spot, it largely felt as if it was treading water. Atwood herself realized the show’s pacing has slowed dramatically, telling Time, “They can’t keep Offred in Gilead for many more seasons, or a certain amount of wheel spinning will be going on. They have to move her along — and I’ve given them lots of ways of how that would happen.”
At this point, I’d prefer a break from Offred’s story (no shade to Elisabeth Moss, who’s done incredible work in the lead role) and would love to see some of that plotline’s dangling questions answered by other characters, but we’ll have to wait and see how all this plays out.
