Warning! Spoilers for Netflix’sUgliesand Scott Westerfeld’sPrettiesandSpecialsahead!
Netflix’sUgliesleft the door open for a sequel, but some significant book changes will make Tally’s continued story far more difficult to pull off. The 2024 sci-fi film is based on Scott Westerfeld’sUgliesbook series, with the bulk of Tally’s tale taking place within the initial trilogy.Uglies,Pretties, andSpecialssee the protagonist undergo various surgical changes, further driving home the theme of governmental control and oppression. It would be great to see all three books adapted into movies, butafter Netflix’sUglies, faithful sequels may no longer be possible.
Overall, there was a lot about theUgliesmovie that was true to Westerfeld’s book. Though a bit more rushed and lacking in detail, the major points of this first stage in Tally’s journey were more or less the same. The ending ofUglieswas especially perfect since the film left audiences off with the tease of Pretty Tally, thussetting up the sequelPretties. If another film happens, it should follow Joey King’s character through her struggle against the Pretty lesion placed in her mind.The threequel,Specials, however, would be far more complicatedthanks toUglies' changes to Special Circumstances.
Netflix’s Uglies Completely Changed Dr. Cable & Special Circumstances
Special Circumstances Was Watered Down In The Uglies Movie
In Netflix’sUgliesmovie,Dr. Cable is the governor of Tally’s city. While she seems beautiful and kindly on the outside, it’s ultimately revealed that she is a pretty nasty villain.She orders her army of mindless supersoldiers to do her bidding, going as far as murder if that’s what it comes to. The title “Special Circumstances” is briefly mentioned but is not a significant film focus. Almost none of this is how it was in Westerfeld’sUgliesbook, where Dr. Cable is, instead, the leader of the top secret organization that steps in when things get out of control.
Peris never becomes a Special in theUgliesbook, and no agent of Special Circumstances intentionally murders David’s father.
Dr. Cable wasn’t someone most Uglies or Pretties would be familiar with in theUgliesbook. The existence of Special Circumstances was little more than a rumor, but when Shay disappeared, Tally discovered that they were real. The agents of Special Circumstances, including Dr. Cable, were known as Specials.While they were indeed altered to have super strength, movement, and resilience, they were far from mindless. Elite, clever, aggressive, fiercely beautiful, and absolutely terrifying, the Specials are biologically designed to induce a panic response in Uglies and Pretties—and Tally herself eventually becomes one.
Uglies' Specials Changes Makes A “Specials” Movie Difficult
Tally Becoming A Special (& Her Final Arc) Just Wouldn’t Work The Same Way
In the thirdUgliesbook,Specials,Tally is forced to become an agent of Special Circumstances, and she immediately takes great pride in her new body and position. Specials experience the world in an icy clarity—so sharp that it almost hurts. They are powerful and fearless, but they aren’t vicious, mindless killers. They follow orders because they believe that everything they do is for the betterment of humanity and the planet. Still,Tally eventually realizes that the alterations made to her brain have made her overly aggressiveand nearly uncontrollable. Just as when she was Pretty, she had to fight against the city’s attempt to control her mind.
By making the Specials mindless monsters, Netflix’s Uglies movie has taken the wind out of Specials' sails.
By making the Specials mindless monsters, Netflix’sUgliesmovie has taken the wind out ofSpecials' sails. If sequel movies follow, it would be challenging to adaptSpecialssince it would essentially be a watered-down repeat of what has already happened withPeris' arc inUglies. Additionally, Tally becoming a mindless soldier, along with Shay and a handful of their friends,would be the complete opposite of her story in the threequel. The Pretty operation dulls a person’s mind, while the Special operation enhances it. Still, Tally must accept that both are forms of mind control.
Uglieshas rendered the twist ending ofSpecialspretty meaningless as well. In the book, after Tally realizes that her brain has yet again been surgically manipulated to control her perspective of her government, she discovers a cure. While she doesn’t take it herself (instead preferring to think her way through her aggression and rage), she secretly gives it to Dr. Cable. This leads the Special villain to realize what she is doing is wrong, andDr. Cable even helps Tally escape the city. Since Dr. Cable isn’t a Special in theUgliesmovie, this wouldn’t really work.
How Netflix Can Backpedal To Make Uglies' Sequels Work
Moving Forward Would Require More Changes & Adjustments
Netflix has left the door open for aPrettiesmovie, but based on the changes to Dr. Cable and Special Circumstances, it doesn’t seem they were considering aSpecialsmovie. Still, if the sequels eventually become part of the plan and budget, there may be some ways that Tally’s time as an agent of Special Circumstances could work. In the books, Tally and Shay are part of a new initiative of Dr. Cable’s, in whichteenagers are turned into a new and improved league of Specials called Cutters. They differ from the previous adult Specials, and this could be Netflix’s key forward.
Specials' faces are meant to be harsh and unnatural, though strangely beautiful. This is another interesting aspect of Special Circumstances that Netflix’sUgliesremoved.
FutureUgliesmovies could reveal thatDr. Cable’s turning Peris into a Specialinspired her to do so with more teenagers. However, rather than mindless soldiers, she may decide that her Cutters will be more like the Specials of the books—aggressive and dangerous but more intelligent and independent. She may also decide that she herself wants to be a Special and opt to have the operation. This wouldmake Dr. Cable a far more threatening villain and make the existing plot ofSpecialspossible again. Of course, none of this would be the same (or as good), but it’s better than noUgliessequels at all.
Uglies
Cast
In a futuristic society where everyone undergoes compulsory cosmetic surgery at 16 to become “pretty,” Tally eagerly awaits her transformation. However, when her friend goes missing, she embarks on a journey that challenges her beliefs about beauty, conformity, and rebellion, ultimately questioning the foundations of their world.
