It looks like FX and Ryan Murphy, as well as American Horror Story alum Evan Peters, are working together once again to bring us more creepy content of the body horror variety. And it really isn’t so surprising considering the particular brand of dark television that Murphy has made a name for himself with (American Horror Story and Monster, to name a few). Slated for a January 2026 premiere, it’s been highly anticipated by readers of the comics and a select group of fans got to see the first footage this weekend.
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The Beauty, which is based on the Image comic of the same name by authors Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley, centers around two detectives, Drew Foster and Kara Vaughn, as they investigate and uncover the secrets of “the Beauty” STD that has been running rampant, causing aesthetic effects but proving lethal. The two partners must avoid the notice of corrupt officials while also evading the mercenaries that are after them. This all comes hot on the heels of a suspected government conspiracy. The first footage was shown at New York Comic Con, with a clip showing a scene in Venice where Evan Peters and Rebecca Hall investigating the death of a model. The clip showed the pair on a canal boat, witnessing a mysterious stranger in a plague doctor’s outfit, and then doing their own hazmat suits to protect against the virus. A gruesome reveal of the victim showed her skin peeled away, organs exposed, and they discover an Egyptian hieroglyph daubed on the wall above her reading: “beauty.” Anthony Ramos is then implicated as the murderer.
After the preview event at NYCC this weekend, comic creators Haun and Hurley took to social media to discuss the preview event:
The Beauty Will Absolutely Pack In The Creep Factor
The premise of the original comic is nothing short of disturbing: “Modern society is obsessed with outward beauty. What if there was a way to guarantee you could become more and more beautiful every day? What if it was a sexually transmitted disease? In the world of The Beauty, physical perfection is attainable. The vast majority of the population has taken advantage of it, but Detectives Foster and Vaughn will soon discover it comes at a terrible price.” It definitely seems like something that we can expect Murphy to deliver on, especially considering some of his past successes in the genre.
In Murphy’s own words to Variety, he says that The Beauty is “a sci-fi medical show about a new virus that mutates and it’s sexually transmitted, that turns you into your absolute perfect self. And the question is, how far would you go to be beautiful? What would you sacrifice to that, and does that matter?” He also says that the show is grander in scale than anything he’s done before: “It’s very different. It shoots in Europe — Venice, Rome and Paris. It’s a very big budget, kind of ‘Game of Thrones’ in its scale.”
The cast, which has already been confirmed on IMDB, is also stacked, featuring big names like Rebecca Hall, Anthony Ramos, and Patrick Luwis. There are also a few unknowns to keep an eye on, such as Chanel Stewart. The first trailer for the show is not yet dated, but with the release date of early 2026, it should hopefully come soon enough.
Do you think the TV adaptation of The Beauty can live up to its comic predecessor? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to check out the ComicBook forum to see what other fans are saying.
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Image Courtesy of Ufotable
