At a Glance
- The Beauty premieres January 21 on FX and Hulu with three episodes
- The sci-fi thriller centers on a STD that makes users beautiful but kills them
- Ashton Kutcher plays a tech billionaire villain protecting his trillion-dollar empire
- Why it matters: Fans of American Horror Story and The Boys get a new binge with weekly drops and a stacked cast
Ryan Murphy’s latest series turns vanity into a death sentence. The Beauty, adapted from the 2015 comic by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley, launches January 21 with a twisted premise: a sexually transmitted treatment grants physical perfection-then murders its users.
Premiere and Release Schedule
FX and Hulu will release the first three episodes at 9 p.m. ET / 12 a.m. PT on launch day. After that, new installments arrive every Wednesday until the finale sprint:
- Jan. 21: Episodes 1-3 (“Beautiful Pilot,” “Beautiful Jordan,” “Beautiful Christopher Cross”)
- Jan. 28: Episode 4 (“Beautiful Chimp Face”)
- Feb. 4: Episode 5 (“Beautiful Billionaires”)
- Feb. 11: Episode 6 (“Beautiful Patient Zero”)
- Feb. 18: Episode 7
- Feb. 25: Episodes 8 and 9
- March 4: Episodes 10 and 11
The 11-episode season has not been labeled a limited series, leaving room for more.
Plot and Cast
FBI agents Cooper Madsen (Evan Peters) and Jordan Bennett (Rebecca Hall) land in Paris to investigate a string of supermodel murders. Their probe exposes “The Beauty,” a virus engineered by shadowy tech titan The Corporation (Ashton Kutcher). His miracle drug promises instant hotness; the fine print is fatal.
“It has amazing action sequences, it has a lot of body horror, it has a great love story, it has a great kind of buddy comedy thing going on and it has a great villain,” Murphy told the New York Comic Con crowd in October 2025, per Forbes.
Kutcher relishes the near-future tech angle. “I love this notion of giving people some superhuman capability that is not 10 steps removed from today, but two steps removed from today,” he told Vanity Fair in January 2026. “You can imagine this actually happening.”
Star-Studded Guest List
Beyond the core quartet-Peters, Hall, Kutcher, and Anthony Ramos-celebrity cameos pile up:
- Bella Hadid
- Ben Platt
- Billy Eichner
- Isabella Rossellini
- Peter Gallagher
- Vincent D’Onofrio
- Meghan Trainor
- Amelia Gray Hamlin
- Lux Pascal
- Nicola Peltz Beckham
Trailer Power and Comic Roots
The first trailer topped 190 million views within a week, Deadline reported. FX ordered the series in September 2024, mining over 30 existing comic issues for future storylines. Co-creator Hurley attended the January 2026 world premiere and called the experience “the most surreal” of his life on Instagram, praising the adaptation as “brilliant.”
Where to Watch
U.S. viewers can stream on Hulu or watch live on FX. International audiences get day-and-date access on Disney+ starting January 21.
Key Takeaways
- Mark your calendar for January 21 if you crave glossy gore
- Binge the first three episodes, then pace yourself for weekly drops
- With no limited-series tag and a vault of comic lore, season 2 is a strong bet
