Ad for The Handmaid's Tale Is Last You'd Expect at Super Bowl

An ad for the upcoming series based on Margaret Atwood's deeply feminist dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale, about a society in which women with viable wombs are a commodity, is the last thing you'd expect to see sandwiched between men shouting from the sidelines and end-zone dances. But tune in to the Super Bowl on Sunday and you'll catch the 37-second spot that Hulu bought to promote the series, Collider reports.

The spot features a voice-over from Elisabeth Moss as Offred, the novel's lead character and a handmaid whose worth has been reduced to her ostensible ability to still reproduce. She's even stripped of her name and given the name 'Of-Fred,' meaning she is "of" the commander for whom she's forced to serve as a vessel in the Republic of Gilead (the possibly not-so distant future the United States of America). Toss in some environmental disaster, religious fanaticism, a complete shutdown of the media, and xenophobia, and it's clear that Atwood's novel, written in 1986, is as prescient as ever.

The series also stars Orange Is the New Black's Samira Wiley as Offred's lesbian friend Moira, a woman she knew from the time before, Alexis Bledel is the revolutionary Ofglen, Joseph Fiennes plays Offred's commander, and Yvonne Strahovsky potrays his wife.

That Hulu chose to run the spot for a series based on a novel that is a clear rebuke to male authoritarianism during the hypermasculine Super Bowl is a bold and beautiful move.

The first episode in the series premieres on Hulu April 26.