‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Sequel Is Also Being Adapted For Hulu
By Ben Pearson/Sept. 4, 2019 4:30 pm EST
Time first broke the news about The Handmaid’s Tale sequel show today, and io9 received the following statement from a Hulu spokesperson when they inquired about what form The Testaments might take:
The Testaments has 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 Dowd portrays Aunt Lydia on The Handmaid’s Tale, and while it’s still unknown if she’ll reprise the role in whatever visual form The Testaments ends up taking, she’s returning to voice the character in the new audiobook alongside Bryce Dallas Howard and Mae Whitman as the other POV characters.
Personally, I’d love to see The Handmaid’s Tale jump 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.
