National Geographic has announced a February 1 premiere date for its latest Genius biographical anthology series, profiling civil rights icons the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
The eight-part Genius: MLK/X will look at how the dueling philosophies of King and Malcolm X helped usher America through the Civil Rights Movement, according to the network. The series 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, said Nat Geo.
Kelvin Harrison Jr. will star as King, while Aaron Pierre will play Malcolm X. Also starring in the series are Weruche Opia, Jayme Lawson and the late Ron Cephas Jones.
Genius: MLK/X is the fourth series in Nat Geo's Emmy-winning Genius franchise, following installments featuring the lives of Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso and Aretha Franklin.
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As with each previous Genius season, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Television will return to produce Genius: MLK/X along with Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood's Undisputed Cinema. Damione Macedon and Raphael Jackson Jr. serve as executive producers.
The first two episodes of Genius: MLK/X will air on February 1 and stream the next day on Disney Plus and Hulu, with two episodes debuting weekly throughout Black History Month.
