Kicking off Black History Month, Disney will premiere the next iteration of Nat Geo's limited anthology series Genius on National Geographic and ABC on February 1 with a next-day streaming premiere on Disney Plus and ABC. This go-round, Genius MLK/X, focuses on Martin Luther King, Jr. (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Malcolm X (Aaron Pierre). Previous seasons have told the stories of Albert Einstein (Geoffrey Rush), Pablo Picasso (Antonio Banderas) and Aretha Franklin (Cynthia Arevo).
Genius MLK/X explores the formative years of both civil-rights activists. While King pursued nonviolent activision, Malcolm 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 of the story, showing them as equals and partners to their more famous husbands.
While King and X only met once, and often challenged each other's viewpoints, the two each rose to pioneer a civil-rights movement that continues today.
Genius MLK/X is executive produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Kristen Zolner for Imagine Television. Reggie Rock Bythewood, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Francie Calfo are executive producers for Undisputed Cinema. Raphael Jackson Jr. and Damione Macedon are showrunners and executive producers. Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane are executive producers for Madison Wells. Sam Sokolow is executive producer for EUE/Sokolow. Jeff Stetson wrote the pilot and is executive producer. Channing Godfrey Peoples directed the pilot episode and also served as co-executive producer. Ambassador Shabazz served as a consulting producer. The series is produced by 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios.