Genius: MLK/X has been given a release date at Nat Geo along with a first-look clip that previews the upcoming chapter of the Genius series.
The first two installments of the eight-episode Genius: MLK/X, which focuses on the relationship of civil rights icons Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, premieres in the United States on February 1st, 2023 on the National Geographic channel. It will also be available the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. Two episodes will then drop weekly across all the platforms.
Check out the Genius: MLK/X first-look clip below (watch more trailers):
Who Stars in Genius: MLK/X?
The upcoming installment of Genius will center around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Elvis star Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Malcolm X (Aaron Pierre), following “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,” per an official description.
“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.”
The series also stars Weruche Opia (I May Destroy You) as Coretta Scott King, Jayme Lawson (The Batman) as Betty Shabazz, and the late Ron Cephas Jones (This is Us).
Genius is produced by 20th Television with Raphael Jackson Jr. and Damione Macedon are co-showrunners and executive producers. Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood served as executive producers via Undisputed Cinema along with Francie Calfo. For Imagine Television, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and Kristen Zolner are executive producers. For Madison Wells, Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane serve as executive producers. For EUE/Sokolow, Sam Sokolow is the executive producer.
Jeff Stetson penned the pilot and is executive producer. Channing Godfrey Peoples directed the pilot episode and also served as co-executive producer. Ambassador Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X Shabazz and Dr. Betty Shabazz, served as a consulting producer.
