'The Handmaid's Tale' Season 6: Release Date, Cast and Spoilers

The sixth and final season of The Handmaid's Tale is coming soon, closing one of the most celebrated runs of the last decade with one more return to Gilead just as the counter-revolution seems to be splintering.

When The Handmaid's Tale first landed in 2017, it was the standout dystopia in a TV landscape full of dystopias. A few months into Donald Trump's term as president, this angry, bleak series felt like a cathartic watch for anyone staring into the next four years with trepidation. Now the final trip to the totalitarian theocracy of Gilead comes to an end in the shadow of a possible second Trump presidency and after the repeal of Roe v Wade. It's all felt quite chillingly real.

The fifth season left June en route to Honolulu by way of Vancouver, and with Luke captured in the process of setting June and Nichole toward freedom. June is still a target for the Gilead state, and she and Nick can't stop thinking about each other despite having apparently decided to break it off. But what should we expect from the sixth season of The Handmaid's Tale?

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When is The Handmaid's Tale series six out?

Well now, there's a question. Filming was slated to start in autumn 2023, but the SAG-AFTRA strikes pushed that back. In February 2024, though, Disney's head of TV Craig Erwich did at least confirm the broad window when you might be able to see it. "The Handmaid’s Tale is going to production this summer, premieres in 2025," he told Deadline.

That was backed up by Elisabeth Moss, who told Jimmy Kimmel Live that: “We are going back to shoot this summer. Our final season... It probably won't be [released] until maybe 2025."

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So just the 12 months in which it could land, then. Still! It's something!

Who's in The Handmaid's Tale series six?

All of the core cast – Elisabeth Moss, Max Minghella, Yvonne Strahovski, Madeline Brewer, Ann Dowd, O-T Fagbenle and the rest – will be returning for the finale, but there is one major change this time.

Alexis Bledel, who played Emily – formerly Ofglen – has decided to leave and her character has returned to Gilead.

"After much thought, I felt I had to step away from The Handmaid's Tale at this time," she told Entertainment Weekly. "I am forever grateful to Bruce Miller for writing such truthful and resonant scenes for Emily, and to Hulu, MGM, the cast and crew for their support."

You'll be seeing plenty of Moss over the next few years. The Mad Men actor recently starred in Next Goal Wins, Taika Waititi's comedy-drama about the trials and tribulations of the (famously terrible) American Samoan football team, and she's gearing up to play Eleanor Coppola, documentary filmmaker and wife of director Francis, in Francis and the Godfather. Then there are two TV projects: She Will Rise, which tells the story of former US congresswoman Katie Hill, as well as the The Veil, a thriller miniseries. She's also signed on for the Black Mirror-esque sci-fi Shell, alongside Kate Hudson and Kaia Gerber.

What happens in The Handmaid's Tale series six?

Three big questions: did June make it to safety? Will she and Nick get it together? And will anyone manage to bring down Gilead once and for all?

Moss told Elle that season six was "going to be a season where June is going to figure out who she is and who she's going to be for the rest of her life".

"The fight is not just about one individual; it's much larger than that," she said. "And I think she is, in season five, getting to that place where she's realising that. And then season six is going to be very much about that, and then about all the characters figuring out whose side they're on and what their next move is."

There might be a very slight change of direction with the departure of showrunner Bruce Miller to concentrate on the spin-off series The Testaments, based on Margaret Atwood's recent follow-up novel. Instead, longstanding Handmaid's Tale writers and exec producers Eric Tuchman and Yahlin Chang will be helming things. Don't expect that change of direction to include loads more of fan favourites Moira and Rita though.

"I love all of our characters," Miller told Digital Spy recently. "I could do a series... The Moira Show, I would watch. I would write it deliciously. Oh my God, I could do it. And Rita's show.

"So we always have huge amounts of story that we're not allowed to do. Huge flashbacks that we just don't have real estate for. The network would give us an extra episode or two or three. But it's the stories – we have to make this distilled."

Miller added that his team would "wrap it up on our own terms".

"The book is so frustrating at the end, because the book just ends. And everybody's like, 'How could you, Bruce Miller… Who do you think you are, writing more?' I'm like, 'Oh my God, it's all I've ever wanted to do, to write the rest.' Because it's like: what the hell happened?! Oh my God – it's the most infuriating ending."

How will The Handmaid's Tale s6 set up The Testaments?

As we've mentioned, main man Miller is off to set up Hulu's spin-off series The Testaments, based on Attwood's sequel to The Handmaid's Tale of the same name. You might expect that to mean there'll be a few plot points specifically setting up characters and places which we'll see more of in that next show, but from what Elisabeth Moss has said it sounds more like it'll be a case of leaving a few threads dangling by omission rather than addition.

"I don’t think we feel an obligation to tie up the entire story of Gilead, especially not because we’ve got the sequel coming up in The Testaments," Moss told Elle. "So we do have the opportunity to continue the story."

Disney's Craig Erwich told Deadline that it'd be "an extension of The Handmaid’s franchise so we have a very robust slate of scripted programming that we’re really excited about". Which doesn't really tell us much, but thanks Craig! Looking forward to a robust slate!