National Geographic announced a 2024 premiere date for “Genius: MLK/X“, the latest installment in Nat Geo’s Genius franchise.
This season of “Genius” will tell the story of two geniuses — Civil Rights Movement leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
According to the official description, this season will follow “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.”
The description continues, “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 first two episodes of the eight-episode fourth season of “Genius” will premiere on Feb. 1 on National Geographic and will stream the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. Two episodes will then drop weekly thereafter on all platforms.
The ensemble cast includes Kelvin Harrison Jr. (The Trial of the Chicago 7) as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Aaron Pierre (The Underground Railroad) as Malcolm X, Weruche Opia (I May Destroy You) as Coretta Scott King, and Jayme Lawson (The Batman) as Betty Shabazz. The series also marks one of the last roles for Emmy-winning actor Ron Cephas Jones (This is Us).