A new Ali series asks what made him different

Prime Video's The Greatest, streaming in full on November fourth, follows young Cassius Clay's quest to become heavyweight champion and undergo a spiritual transformation that changes his faith and name.

The show avoids hagiography despite Ali connections

Creator Ben Watkins, who made Cross, doesn't dodge the tougher aspects of Ali's life.His widow Lonnie Ali is an executive producer, as is Michael B.

The story spans from Olympics to championship

The Greatest is bookended by career highlights: the nineteen sixty Rome Olympics, where Ali won gold at eighteen, and his first heavyweight championship in nineteen sixty-four against Sonny Liston.

Jaalen Best brings youth to the role

Jaalen Best plays a significantly younger Cassius Clay than previous film versions. His fresh face makes Clay's self-possession seem more remarkable as he returns from Italy to segregated Louisville, Kentucky.

Family shapes Clay's unshakeable self-belief

Watkins offers three explanations for Clay's fierce self-belief: his innate ability to tune out skeptics, his mother Odessa and brother Rudy's unwavering love, and the showmanship he learns from wrestler Gorgeous George.

Clay refuses to work with those who demean him

As an eighteen-year-old Black working-class athlete, Clay is swarmed by people wanting to profit from his future. He refuses to work with anyone, Black or white, who tries to humble him, knowing he deserves respect.

“You don't teach Michelangelo how to paint.”

Sonny Liston embodies Clay's opposite

Sonny, depicted as Clay's antithesis, is an ex-con and abuse survivor who has internalized racist caricatures of Black manhood.

The series builds a case for integrity as greatness

The Greatest distinguishes Malcolm X as a true mentor from polarizing Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad.