Hulu has added three high‑profile projects to its January 2026 slate: Ryan Murphy’s sci‑fi drama The Beauty, Marvel’s genre‑bending series Wonder Man, and a globe‑spanning documentary titled Pole to Pole with Will Smith. The only title with a firm release date is A Thousand Blows, set for January 9, but the lineup already signals a busy start to the new year.
Ryan Murphy’s The Beauty: Where the Body Becomes the Battlefield
Murphy’s next FX‑on‑Hulu series is shaping up as a glossy, high‑concept thriller. The premise centers on a drug that grants permanent physical perfection, but it extracts an ethical price that the characters must pay. Early reports describe the show as a blend of body‑horror and tech‑dystopia—think Nip/Tuck meets Black Mirror—with a visual palette of pastel tones that have become Murphy’s signature.
Inside sources at 20th Television say the scripts will tackle influencer culture, gene‑editing debates, and the anxiety of aging in a world that rewards viral fame. For Hulu, which is looking to regain momentum after a challenging 2025, The Beauty could provide the buzz needed to attract a younger, socially‑savvy audience.
Marvel’s Wonder Man: The Superhero Who’d Rather Be in Hollywood
Hulu’s first Marvel offering for 2026 shifts away from family‑friendly fare and leans into adult comedy. Wonder Man stars Yahya Abdul‑Mateen II as Simon Williams, a former stuntman who gains ionic powers after a studio lighting rig backfires. The series mixes meta‑satire with action, using Hollywood’s own excesses as the primary antagonist.
Marvel executives have kept plot details under wraps, but insiders suggest a half‑hour format that feels more like Atlanta than a traditional superhero epic. Expect frequent nods to Tinseltown culture, a soundtrack featuring emerging hip‑hop artists, and simultaneous release on both Hulu and Hulu‑on‑Disney+. The dual launch aims to eliminate the regional spoilers that have plagued previous releases.
Will Smith’s Global Trek: From Red Tables to White Ice Shelves
Two years after the widely publicized incident at the Oscars, Smith is turning to exploration. Produced by National Geographic and streaming exclusively on Hulu in the U.S., Pole to Pole with Will Smith follows a 25,000‑mile journey from the Arctic’s midnight sun to the Antarctic’s polar night. Along the way, Smith meets climate scientists, Indigenous hunters, and engineers working to preserve melting ice archives.
The docuseries blends adventure filmmaking with personal reflection. Early teasers show Smith rappelling into deep crevasses, dancing beneath auroras, and sharing candid moments in a shipboard sauna. The series positions the trek as both a physical challenge and a therapeutic process for the actor.
Will Smith’s Pole‑to‑Pole Trek: Redemption Narrative in 4K
Shot over 112 days aboard the ice‑breaker Le Commandant Charcot, the six‑part series documents Smith’s work with scientists tagging bearded seals in the Arctic, crossing the Darien Gap, and reaching the South Pole at –35 °C. Each episode concludes with a brief “captain’s log” recorded in the ship’s sauna, where Smith reflects on the experience.
Footage shared with the National Geographic Society shows Smith alongside Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu, Haitian hurricane responders, and Argentine climate modeler Dr. Cordero. The project has earned a UN Sustainable Tourism certification, giving Hulu a family‑friendly counterpoint to Murphy’s darker fare and expanding its appeal to advertisers preparing for the 2026 upfront season.
| Series | Filming Span | Key Science Partner | Environmental Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pole to Pole | 112 days | NatGeo Labs | UN Sustainable Tourism |
| Welcome to Earth (2021) | 60 days | NatGeo Explorers | None |
Marvel’s Wonder Man: Hollywood Satire Hidden Inside a Cape
In Wonder Man, Simon Williams gains ionic powers after a studio lighting rig intended for a stunt goes awry. The series uses each episode to parody a different Hollywood genre—grindhouse, prestige drama, even a musical‑style number—allowing Marvel to comment on its own production machine.
Head writer Destin Daniel Cretton describes the show as “the first Marvel series that rolls its eyes at Marvel.” Early table reads featured cameo scripts for veteran stunt performers, many of whom improvised real on‑set stories that now appear in dialogue. The result is a self‑aware comedy that tackles union hours, digital de‑aging, and the pressure of post‑credit stingers while delivering the expected CGI set pieces.
Calendar Collision: Why January 9 Became Streaming’s New Super Tuesday
Hulu’s scheduling aligns The Beauty, Wonder Man and A Thousand Blows around the week after the holiday binge period, a window when Nielsen’s “total usage” metric resets. The timing also avoids major events such as the NFL playoffs, the Golden Globes, and the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, which typically draw viewers away from on‑demand platforms.
More importantly, the January 9 launch is the last major push before the Hulu app merges into Disney+ later in 2026. Executives need clear performance data to convince advertisers that the combined interface can deliver distinct audience segments. By offering a horror‑drama, a polar documentary, and a meta‑superhero comedy, Hulu tests its reach across coastal millennials, middle‑America families, and genre enthusiasts.
Epilogue: The Future Isn’t Just Coming—It’s Already in Post‑Production
Streaming strategies are now built around precise drop dates rather than seasonal cycles. Hulu’s decision to cluster three very different titles on a single Tuesday signals confidence that the anticipation of new content can be as valuable as the content itself. Whether viewers are drawn to Murphy’s visual excess, Smith’s redemption arc, or Marvel’s self‑referential humor, the platform’s call to action remains the same: stay, sample, subscribe. The calendar may still show 2024, but the countdown to next year’s releases is already ticking down on every screen.