The 8-episode fourth installment - titled Genius: MLK/X - will premiere on Thursday, February 1 with its first two episodes. New episodes will be available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu the following day. Two new episodes will be released weekly on all platform.
The new season follows both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm 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. 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 ensemble cast includes Kelvin Harrison Jr., Aaron Pierre, Weruche Opia and Jayme Lawson. The series also marks one of the last roles for Emmy-winning actor Ron Cephas Jones.
Raphael Jackson Jr. and Damione Macedon serve as showrunners for the new installment. They executive produce with Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Kristen Zolner, Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood. 20th Television, Imagine Television and Undisputed Cinema produce.
