The future of FX’s The Beauty isn’t looking all that beautiful at the moment.
Ryan Murphy’s sci-fi body-horror series premiered on FX earlier this year with an ambitious premise, and season 1 ended on a cliffhanger that set the stage for another installment. While the series earned praise for its bizarre, addictive storytelling, including ScreenRant‘s The Beauty review, which called it “absolutely bonkers,” its path forward has now hit a significant obstacle.
However, Deadline reported that The Beauty has officially been put on pause after the cast options lapsed. As a result, the actors are free to pursue other projects. For instance, Evan Peters is currently filming American Horror Story season 13, and Rebecca Hall is reportedly in talks to star opposite Morgan Spector in Netflix’s adaptation of Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets. The report also revealed that there are currently no season 2 plans, but FX hasn’t issued a definitive “no,” either.
On the surface, losing the main cast of The Beauty might seem like the final nail in the coffin, but the show’s premise complicates the situation. The series centers on a sexually transmitted virus that transforms its victims into physically perfect versions of themselves, often with disturbing consequences. Because characters can undergo dramatic physical transformations, recasting isn’t necessarily a barrier to continuing the story.
Season 1 already demonstrated that flexibility. After Jordan Bennett contracted the virus, the character was portrayed by Jessica Alexander instead of Hall. Cooper Madsen also transformed, with Hudson Barry briefly portraying the character’s younger version before The Beauty finale ended on a major cliffhanger that concealed his newest appearance. That built-in narrative device means season 2 could theoretically move forward even if some original cast members don’t return.
Meanwhile, the FX series is based on a comic book of the same name, written by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley. While the comics have run for six volumes so far, the television show adapts the fundamental premise, but the characters and story are mostly original. Thus, season 2 has more opportunities to expand the story beyond the main stars if the network decides to renew it.
Still, the report suggests the pause extends beyond scheduling conflicts. The Beauty was a large-scale production with extensive visual effects and location shoots across Europe, making it one of FX’s more ambitious recent projects. Although the series launched with a solid viewership and landed the coveted worldwide top spot for streaming, it reportedly struggled to maintain that momentum after its debut and was eventually overshadowed by Murphy’s other series, Love Story, which became a breakout success for the network.
While there are currently no plans for season 2, the door does not appear to be completely closed. Murphy’s projects have gone dormant before eventually returning, and The Beauty’s unique format gives the creative team unusual flexibility if they ever decide to resurrect it. For now, however, viewers will likely have to wait considerably longer than expected to find out what became of Cooper after the shocking season 1 finale.
