HuluBlessed be the fruit! The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 is dropping very soon, so here’s everything we know so far, from the show’s release date and plot to cast, trailer, and more.
It’s felt like a long road to Gilead waiting for the sixth and final chapter to arrive. While Seasons 1-5 of the dystopian TV show came out in yearly installments, there’s a two and a half year gap between the latest runs (more on this in a bit).
There’s plenty of hype building for how the story will conclude. Although Season 1 stuck closely to the source material, Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel of the same, Hulu’s version of The Handmaid’s Tale has extended the plot far beyond the pages.
At the center is June’s quest to get Hannah back. Will this happen in Season 6? Thankfully, there’s not too long to find out. Warning: spoilers for Season 5 ahead!
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 release date
The first three episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 drop on Hulu on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, with new episodes dropping weekly thereafter.
There are a number of reasons the final chapter took a little longer than previous installments, the first being Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes of 2023, which put a halt to US productions.
Additionally, two of the main stars, Elisabeth Moss and Yvonne Strahovski, had babies in real life, meaning production needed to accommodate for their time to recover.
There was also a change in crew, as Bruce Miller stepped down as showrunner. He maintains his position as writer and executive producer for Season 6, but passed on his showrunning duties to exec producers Eric Tuchman and Yahlin Chang.
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Filming started in September 2024, before wrapping up in February 2025. As confirmed by star O-T Fagbenle on Instagram, “THAT’S A WRAP on the final season of Handmaids! It’s coming soon!”
Hulu drops chilling Season 6 teaser
Although the full Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 trailer is yet to drop, Hulu released a teaser trailer on February 12, 2025 – and it’s guaranteed to give you goosebumps. Check it out below:
The 90-second clip shows June preparing for an all-out revolution to take down Gilead once and for all. In it, an army of handmaids put on their red uniforms, as June narrates, “To mark us, they put us in red, the color of blood.
“They forgot that it’s also the color of rage. The dress became our uniform, and we became an army.”
Serena is then heard warning, “Something big is about to happen,” before Mark Tuello hands Nick a document.
Another major tease is what appears to be Joseph Lawrence’s wedding. As he prepares with his fellow commanders, the army of handmaids take their seat in the church and covertly arm themselves with knives, ready for the “revolution.”
Who’s in the cast?
All of the surviving cast members will return for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6, including Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne and Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy Waterford.
The rest of the cast includes:
- O-T Fagbenle as Luke Bankole, June’s husband and Hannah’s father
- Max Minghella as Nick Blaine, June’s Gilead lover, father to Nichole, and current Commander
- Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia, the violent enforcer who indoctrinates Handmaids
- Samira Wiley as Moira Strand, June and Luke’s best friend and former handmaid
- Madeline Brewer as Janine Lindo, a handmaid who lost her sanity at the Red Center
- Sam Jaeger as Mark Tuello, a representative of the US Government-in-Exile
- Bradley Whitford as Commander Joseph Lawrence, the morally complex architect of Gilead
- Amanda Brugel as Rita Blue, a former Martha who escaped Gilead and is friends with June, Luke, and Moira
- Ever Carradine as Naomi Putnam, the cruel wife of the late Commander Warren Putnam, who’s now getting married to Lawrence
HuluAlthough there’s no official announcement, we can expect Jordana Blake to return as Hannah Bankole given her significant role in the story.
There are also some new cast members to take note of. In July 2024, it was announced that The Good Wife star Josh Charles had joined Season 6 as a series regular. Two months later, Variety reported that Veep actor Timothy Simons had joined in a guest star role.
Both character descriptions are being kept under wraps for now, but we’ll be sure to keep this space updated when new details arrive.
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 plot
In the final season of the binge-worthy series, June is set to return to the fight against Gilead, while Serena attempts to reform the place her late husband, Commander Fred Waterford, helped to create.
HuluAs per the official synopsis, “June’s unyielding spirit and determination pull her back into the fight to take down Gilead. Luke and Moira join the resistance.
“Serena tries to reform Gilead while Commander Lawrence and Aunt Lydia reckon with what they have wrought, and Nick faces challenging tests of character.
“This final chapter of June’s journey highlights the importance of hope, courage, solidarity, and resilience in the pursuit of justice and freedom.”
Obviously, we have no clue exactly what direction the show will head in, and whether June, Luke, and Hannah will finally be reunited – but we can expect a bloody battle ahead.
The Handmaid’s Tale executive producer Warren Littlefield told Deadline last December, “A lot of people won’t make it to the end of Handmaid’s Tale. It’s pretty chilling, but also exciting.
“I feel that Eric Tuchman and Yahlin Chang, who are the showrunners this year – Bruce, of course, remains an executive producer – they really, really thought a lot about what the audience wants and needs.
Hulu“And I think we will satisfy those who have been with us through six seasons, I think they’ll feel powerfully rewarded.
“Also, Lizzie [Elisabeth Moss] has arrived as a directing force – that all happened over the course of Handmaid’s Tale – and it’s really appropriate that she is the director that takes us home.”
If you’re a fan of the show, you’ll know that the past few chapters of the Hulu series have given us some much-needed vengeance against the higher-ups of Gilead, but it hasn’t been a straightforward path.
Every victory has come at a cost, with mistakes, betrayals, and unexpected battles complicating the fight. As Season 6 unfolds, we can expect this struggle to continue, with new obstacles and shifting allegiances making the road to justice more perilous than ever.
Did June go back to Gilead at the end of Season 5?
Although June heads to No Man’s Land and the border with Canada, she never fully returns to Gilead. Instead, at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, she makes a quick exit from Canada, only to be reunited with Serena.
HuluJune and Luke’s escape was not by choice – Luke chose to give himself up to the police after killing the man who attacked June. Even though the man was going to kill her, anti-refugee sentiment in Canada reached boiling point in the fifth chapter.
Tuello offered to help June, Luke, and Nichole escape, but knowing the police were after him, Luke found a way to get June and the baby on the train before giving himself up.
As the train pulled away, June realized she wasn’t alone – Serena and her baby, Noah, were on board, setting up an uneasy reunion between the two women.
The train is heading west, but its exact destination is unclear. Given the growing resistance and Gilead’s expanding reach, June’s journey is far from safe.
Meanwhile, Serena’s situation remains precarious – she’s on the run after losing control over her position in Gilead and being targeted in Canada. With their children in tow and nowhere left to turn, the two former enemies may be forced into an uneasy alliance.
This all feeds directly into Season 6, where early teasers suggest that June will end up back in Gilead.
Whether this is by choice or force remains to be seen, but with Hannah still trapped there and the war against Gilead escalating, it seems inevitable that June will once again find herself deep in enemy territory.
While you wait, be sure to check out our roundup of the best TV shows of 2025 so far, the shows to get excited about in 2025, and new series coming to streaming this month.