Trailer to Nat Geo’s Genius: MLK/X
Ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, National Geographic released the trailer and key art for the newest installment of the Emmy Award-winning anthology series GENIUS: MLK/X. For the first time, the docu-drama series explores the lives of two iconic geniuses: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
Two episodes will premiere weekly beginning Feb. 1 on National Geographic at 9/8c and will stream the next day on both Disney+ and Hulu. The first episode of the new season, “Graduation,” will simulcast on ABC Feb. 1 at 9/8c.
The cast of the season includes: Kelvin Harrison Jr. as King, Aaron Pierre as X, Weruche Opia as Coretta Scott King, and Jayme Lawson as Betty Shabazz.
Setting the series apart from other retellings, GENIUS: MLK/X explores simultaneously the formative years, pioneering accomplishments, dueling philosophies and key personal relationships of both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Malcolm X (Aaron Pierre). While King advanced racial equality through nonviolent activism, X advocated for Black empowerment, identity and self-determination. The eight-part series also brings their wives, Coretta Scott King (Weruche Opia) and Betty Shabazz (Jayme Lawson), to the forefront and shows them as formidable equals of the Movement. While King and X met only once and often challenged each other’s views, the two visionaries, with their wives leading by their sides, ultimately rose to pioneer a movement that lives on today.
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 executive producer. Jeff Stetson (“The Meeting”) penned the pilot and is executive producer.
Channing Godfrey Peoples (“Miss Juneteenth”) 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. 20th Television also produced.
A think tank of historians and experts served as production consultants prior to the start of the writer’s room to guide the production, including the following (in alphabetical order): Jamal Joseph (“Panther Baby: A Life of Rebellion and Reinvention”), Peniel E. Joseph (“The Sword and The Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.,” served as inspiration for the series), Michele Norris (“The Race Card Project”), Dr. Kameelah Rashad (Muslim Wellness Foundation), Dr. Barbara Reynolds (“Jesse Jackson: America’s David,” “No, I Won’t Shut Up: Thirty Years of Telling It Like It Is”), Jeff Stetson (“The Meeting,” served as inspiration for the series, wrote the pilot and served as an executive producer), Jeanne Theoharis (political science professor at City University of New York) and Pastor Michael A. Walrond Jr. (senior pastor of First Corinthian Baptist Church).