On Wednesday (June 8th), streaming service Hulu released the first look at the new Mike Tyson eight-episode limited series “Mike,” which features “Moonlight” star, Trevante Rhodes.
“You may know Tyson,” Hulu stated in the first post. In the second post, which features a sneak peek of the Mike Tyson series. “But do you know Mike?”
According to IMDb, “Mike” explores the wild, tragic, and controversial life and career of heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson. The athlete is considered one of the most polarizing figures in sports culture.
Also starring alongside Rhodes are Scott MacDonald, Kerry Sims, Harvey Keitel, Laura Harrier, and Li Eubanks.
‘Mike’ Showrunner States the Miniseries Is Not Meant to Glorify Mike Tyson’s Life
While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, “Mike” showrunner, Karin Gist, stated that the upcoming miniseries is not meant to glorify Mike Tyson’s life. “We were never trying to say that Mike Tyson is a hero or Mike Tyson is a villain. Our goal was to take a very complicated and controversial figure and try to get under the hood of what he was praised and vilified for while staying true to our North Star of ‘no one person is one thing.’”
Gist also noted that the goal was not to shy away from the scary or uncomfortable parts of the story just because they are scary and uncomfortable. “Putting stories like this in the spotlight and pulling them out of the shadows is crucial to moving forward and getting the conversation to the next level.”
Steven Rogers, the creator of “Mike” who is known for his Oscar-nominated film “I, Tonya,” also shared his thoughts on the upcoming miniseries. “I think the thing people responded to in I, Tonya was, we took a story everyone thought they knew and we tried to show there’s much more to it than just the sound bites the media gives us. Then one of us said, ‘What about doing that with Mike Tyson?’ I clicked to that because to me, his story is so compelling, contradictory, and complex.”
‘Mike’ Creator Describes the Series as Being a ‘Cautionary Tale’ of the American Deam
Rogers further explained that in some ways, “Mike” is a cautionary tale of the American Dream. “It also seemed like quite a ride. And you can find the roots of a lot of issues we’re grappling with today like #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, prison reform, mental health issues in it. It seemed like a good time to tell it.”
Gist went on to add that the goal is to show viewers all sides of Mike Tyson’s life. “No one is just one thing. There’s more before a sound bite or a headline or gossip. We wanted people to see Mike’s own culpability in his life and society’s culpability as well.”
“Mike” is will premiere on August 25th.
