By Stig Editor 
Why The Handmaid’s Tale Creator Almost Killed Off This Chilling Character Inspired by Hitler’s Wife
In the dystopian world of The Handmaid’s Tale, power, cruelty, and control are themes that often revolve around the regime’s most intimidating figures. But one of the show’s most chilling characters almost didn’t survive the series not because of a narrative twist, but due to the creator’s personal discomfort.
Bruce Miller, the creator of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, recently revealed that he considered killing off Serena Joy Waterford a central figure in the series for a very specific and emotional reason. His reasoning? Serena Joy reminded him far too much of Eva Braun, Adolf Hitler’s longtime companion and eventual wife.
Serena Joy, portrayed with icy precision by Yvonne Strahovski, is a complex villain. Once a respected public figure who helped shape Gilead’s oppressive ideologies, she soon finds herself caged by the very rules she helped create. While her suffering might feel like karmic justice, her occasional flashes of humanity make her character even more disturbing.
Miller confessed in a recent interview that Serena’s resemblance to Eva Braun unnerved him. “She represented this kind of willful ignorance and complicity that you also see in historical figures like Braun. It got under my skin in a way that made me want to cut her out of the story.”
But ultimately, Miller decided to keep Serena alive not out of sympathy, but because her continued presence allowed the show to explore themes of hypocrisy, female complicity in patriarchy, and redemption.
Strahovski’s chilling performance only added to the character’s longevity. Fans love to hate Serena Joy, and her complex journey from powerful elite to victim of the regime keeps viewers questioning: Can a villain truly evolve?
In the end, Miller’s decision to let Serena live wasn’t about forgiveness. It was about holding a mirror to the darkest parts of history and asking hard questions through a terrifying, but all-too-human, character.