How The Handmaid's Tale Sequel Series Shows A New Side Of Gilead Explained By Creator

5 days ago 10

Published Mar 21, 2026, 1:37 PM EDT

Rianna is the Movie News Editor for ScreenRant. After earning her BA in Film Studies, she began her career as an entertainment writer, contributing to several publications before joining ScreenRant. Her dissertation on the impact of streaming on traditional cinema sharpened her focus on the ever-evolving world of film and media. With 6 years in the industry, Rianna continues to cover the stories she loves while also advocating for awareness and representation of rare disabilities, such as Moebius Syndrome, which she lives with.

Blessed be the fruit, as Gilead is making a return in The Handmaid's Tale sequel The Testaments, but not in the way you think.

Series creator Bruce Miller spoke to Variety at French fest Series Mania after The Testament's world premiere and addressed how the sequel will handle the events of The Handmaid's Tale while also showing a whole new and frightening side of Gilead after Moss's incredibly disturbing portrayal of being a Handmaid while also attempting to find her freedom.

"It was very exciting to see this other side of Gilead, with all these privileged people. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ was about those at the very bottom of the social structure. Here are the women who are at the absolute top. And it still kind of sucks."

The sequel will be set in a whole new world with an entirely different perspective, in which Aunt Lydia's (played by Ann Dowd) elite preparatory school for future wives and the daughters of Commanders, some of whom were taken from their birth parents, undergo training ahead of their assignment, or rather, husbands. Dowd also spoke at the premiere and stated that Lydia is coming from a "very crushed place" at the end of The Handmaid's Tale.

"As Bruce said, it’s a different world entirely. And Lydia is a different person. She was brought to her knees, literally, in deep and profound remorse. When that happens, you can say: 'I don’t care. I will keep doing what I’m doing.' Or you can change the way you see the world, acknowledge what you have done, live with the pain and the misery of that, and begin a new life."

The main cast of The Testaments includes Dowd, Chase Infiniti, and Lucy Halliday. There will also be new additions to the world, including the Pear Girls, who will be wearing white with other students dressed in pinks and purples. Color is an extremely important tool in the franchise as it distinguishes different roles amongst Gilead as well as authority, with red obviously being the main focus of June and her fellow handmaids.

The Testaments will be available to watch on Hulu on April 8.