Netflix Nears Deal for Disney’s Hit 6-Part Dystopian Series After Key Update

Here is the latest twist in the streaming shuffle: The Handmaid's Tale is starting to show up on Netflix in some countries, right as Hulu just rolled out its sequel series. If you are in the U.S., do not get too excited yet — but the signs are getting harder to ignore.

So, is The Handmaid's Tale actually hitting Netflix?

In parts of Europe and Latin America, yes. What’s On Netflix says all six seasons — 66 episodes total — are set to begin streaming there on May 5 or May 6, depending on the region. That timing is not an accident: it is landing about a month after Hulu dropped the follow-up series The Testaments.

If you somehow missed the original, it is based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel and set in a dystopian United States overthrown by the Republic of Gilead — a totalitarian, theonomic regime that strips women of their rights and forces fertile women, the so-called Handmaids, into sexual servitude for the ruling class. The show ran from 2017 to 2025 and turned June Osborne's fight against Gilead into one of Hulu's biggest, most-awarded dramas.

What about the U.S.?

For now, Americans still need Hulu to stream The Handmaid's Tale. But its arrival on Netflix overseas is a strong signal that a U.S. deal could happen down the line. Netflix has been fattening up its catalog with shows that originated on rival platforms — yes, even HBO Max and AMC+ — while Disney has been quietly monetizing parts of Hulu's library by licensing out some of its own splashy titles.

• Recent Hulu-branded series now on Netflix: Castle Rock, Solar Opposites, and 11.22.63.

Why a Hulu Original can end up on Netflix

Here is the industry nitty-gritty: even though The Handmaid's Tale aired on Hulu and carries the Hulu Original badge in the U.S., MGM Television actually controls the main production and distribution rights. Once Hulu's exclusivity window ends — and no, that expiration date is not public — MGM can shop the streaming rights elsewhere. Lately, MGM has been sending more of its back catalog to Netflix in the U.S., which only strengthens the case for Handmaid's making the jump at some point.

If it does land stateside, what are you getting?

Six seasons of a relentless, nerve-jangling fight for survival and freedom, tracking June's evolution from a trapped Handmaid to a force leading the pushback against Gilead. It is not light viewing, but it is gripping for a reason.

Meanwhile on Netflix this month

Even without Handmaid's (yet), Netflix is not exactly empty. April has already added the first seasons of NBC's Happy's Place and St. Denis Medical, plus new seasons of Netflix originals The Bad Guys: The Series and XO, Kitty. And if a U.S. window for The Handmaid's Tale appears, I will yell about it here the second it is real.