What is The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 release date? The Handmaid’s Tale, based on the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name, captured the attention of audiences with its eerily relevant themes when it was first released in 2017. Now, six years later, the show is finally drawing a close on the dystopian tale of abuse and power.
The Hulu drama series followed the story of June, AKA: Offred, as she found herself living in a radicalised world where women are possessions and humanity has become unable to produce children, save for a select few. Since then, the characters have been through hell and back to try and fight for their freedom.
But with The Handmaid’s Tale having developed into a complex web of stories, some so dark you’d easily consider it to be a horror series, what can we expect from the newest and final season? Well, here’s everything we know about The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 release date, cast, and more. (Spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale season 5!)
The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 release date speculation
The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 could be released in mid-2024 but that release date is purely speculation right now.
Filming is slated to begin in August 2023, and previous seasons have taken up to six months to shoot, which is where we’re getting our mid-2024 estimate from. That said, filming could potentially be delayed by the 2023 Writers Strike as The Handmaid’s Tale writers have joined the picket lines.
Since the sixth season will mark the finale of the thriller series, bringing the years-long story to a no doubt dramatic conclusion, it’s likely that the production team will be pushing to get out the final instalment of the tale for fans ASAP.
The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 cast speculation
Since the upcoming season is the last, we would expect most of the main players to return as part of The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 cast. That, naturally, includes Elisabeth Moss as June.
It’s sadly been confirmed that Alexis Bledel won’t be returning to the show, however, after her screen-time being reduced in season four, and having been written out of the show entirely in season five. (In-show, it was revealed that the character of Emily had returned to Gilead.)
Here’s the expected The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 cast:
- Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne
- Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Waterford
- Madeline Brewer as Janine
- Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia
- O-T Fagbenle as Luke
- Max Minghella as Nick
- Samira Wiley as Moira
- Bradley Whitford as Commander Lawrence
- Amanda Brugel as Rita
The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 plot speculation
Based on how season five ended, we can take a good guess as to what The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 plot would entail.
We imagine season six would build upon the relationship between June and Nick, given that their relationship has been building up across the seasons in a tantalising way. Plus, season five ended with the implied breakdown of Nick’s marriage to Rose. It’s pretty clear that he’s not quite over June. We doubt that’s going to go well for him.
The finale will no doubt also be a tremendous confrontation between June and Serena, especially after June brutally murdered Serena’s husband (and June’s former employer). After Serena was forced to confront the mutilated body of Fred, we doubt she’s going to forgive and forget.
The closing episode of season five ends with Nicole managing to catch a ride on a train after Luke realises he won’t be able to get past the police looking for him, and he hands himself in. But it turns out…Serena is also on the same train with Noah. Yikes.
The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 trailer
Since filming has yet to commence, there is no The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 trailer at the moment.
But for a reminder of the state of things, watch the trailer for season 5 above, and be sure and check back on this page since we’ll be sure and keep you up to date with any trailer drops.
Where can I watch The Handmaid’s Tale season 6?
The Handmaid’s Tale will be available to stream on Hulu upon release.
If you’re looking to catch up in the meantime, the first five seasons are available to stream on Hulu and Amazon Prime in the UK.
How many episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 will there be?
We would expect The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 to consist of ten episodes.
This would follow the show’s pattern since all seasons (with the exception of 2 and 3) contained ten episodes. Unless, of course, they decide to spring some extras on us. You know, for the drama.
For more gripping shows, hold you over until season six comes to light, be sure and have a look at our guides to the Succession characters, the House of the Dragon season 2 release date, and the Yellowstone 6666 release date. Don’t forget to check out all the great new movies coming out this year.
