‘Genius: MLK/X’ Premiere Date Set — Go Behind the Scenes (VIDEO)
Disney+ and National Geographic have announced the official release for the upcoming installment of its award-winning Genius franchise, this time set to center on the iconic Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
In a first-look trailer for Genius: MLK/X above, we get a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming project, which sees Kelvin Harrison Jr. (The Trial of the Chicago 7) and Aaron Pierre (The Underground Railroad) as the titular MLK and Malcolm X. “They had the same objectives, they had the same goals. Their approach is just a little different,” some of the narration says about the two figures.
Genius: MLK/X follows both King and X from their formative years, where they were molded by strong fathers and traumatic injustices, to their rich, parallel stories as they shaped their identities and became the change they wished to see in the world. They were influenced as children by different upbringings and experiences: King by the Jim Crow-era South and life in the church before finding his voice at Morehouse and Boston University, and X growing up under the constant, deadly violence of the Klan and falling into a life of vice and incarceration where he was introduced to the Nation of Islam and found his voice. The two visionaries ultimately rose to pioneer a movement.
Weruche Opia (I May Destroy You) will also play King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, and Jayme Lawson (The Batman) will play Malcolm X’s spouse, Betty Shabazz.
Genius: MLK/X‘s first episode will be directed by Channing Godfrey Peoples (Miss Juneteenth), who will also serve as co-executive producer alongside Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood.
The Genius series dramatizes the fascinating stories of the world’s most brilliant innovators, exploring their extraordinary achievements and volatile, passionate, and complex personal relationships. In 2017, National Geographic premiered the first season of the anthology series, which starred Geoffrey Rush as the brilliant scientist Albert Einstein. Other installments focus on the likes of Aretha Franklin and Pablo Picasso.
Genius: MLK/X, Series Premiere, February 1, 2024, Disney+
