Testamentsthe long-awaited spinoff The Handmaid’s Talewhich premiered in April 2026, starting many years after the events of the main series.
While the new drama focuses on a new group of women who fight to dismantle the dystopian kingdom of Gilead from within, several familiar characters from the original cast reappear for support.
Based on Margaret Atwoodnext novel of 2019, Testaments the show follows Agnes (an older Hannah) who begins her story as a “Plum” (a freshman at Gilead’s prep school for wives) before becoming “Green” when she starts menstruating — giving her the ability to marry a high-ranking commander. Viewers also meet Daisy, who disguised herself as one of the “Pearl Girls,” who converted to the fundamentalist religion of Gilead) in order to smuggle the reprehensible intellectuals through the Gilead kingdom out of the country. Aunt Lydia, on the other hand, narrates the story of when she was quietly working as an undercover source within the empire.
While the book is set 15 years later The Handmaid’s Talethe on-screen version takes place only four years after the end of the OG. Chase the Infiniti again Lucy Halliday star as Agnes and Daisy, respectively, in the season Ann Dowd reprises her role as Aunt Lydia.
See which one The Handmaid’s Tale the stars are back Testaments so far:
Ann Dowd Supports ‘Testament’ as Aunt Lydia
Dowd’s Aunt Lydia is the heart of the spinoff, serving as narrator and confidential source in Gilead. The series delves into his history through carefully selected flashbacks, examining the decisions that made him the fearsome figure fans know him to be. The Handmaid’s Tale.
Creator Bruce Miller you are only told Us Weekly in April 2026 that the writers were “thinking a lot” about how much Lydia had been through.
“We were very mindful of just showing a little bit of his past, and what we had to show in that,” Miller said, adding that the spinoff was intentionally “about the level of trauma” they wanted to “put the audience into.”
He continued, “So when you look at the things inside Testamentswe wanted to make sure [the flashbacks] it matched our goal of understanding how Lydia was thinking at the beginning of Gilead and why she made the choices she did.”
Elisabeth Moss Makes a Surprise Cameo
Anyway The Handmaid’s Tale Fast forward to 2025, Moss found a way back into the story. Wednesday, April 8, series premiereviewers find out that Daisy is involved in a secret dissident group, Mayday. Back in her pre-Gilead life, Daisy is shown skateboarding in her parents’ old shop while June watches her from behind.
Moss also appears in the third episode of the show, taking Daisy to safety after her parents’ brutal deaths at the hands of Gilead. Besides his screen appearances, Moss also works as a producer on the series.
Amanda Brugel Returns as Rita
In another moment of great reunion, Brugel reprized her role as Rita, Martha in the OG series, in the seventh episode of Testaments season 1.
Based in Canada, Rita is now a key employee of Mayday, according to Gizmodowhere he was tasked with preparing Daisy for her undercover mission to enter Gilead.
“You protect yourself by following their rules, and trust no one but your boss,” he told Daisy, warning her not to make friends in Gilead. “Don’t ever take them for granted. Ever. They’ve spent their lives being more cautious than you ever were. So if you go in there thinking you’re smarter than them, you’re going to die.”
Testaments airs Wednesdays on Hulu and Disney+.
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
