There are few names in global culture that exist beyond time. Michael Jackson is one of them.
For decades, his influence has shaped music, performance, fashion, and the very language of pop culture itself. But influence at that scale often comes at a cost. One that is rarely explored with care, depth, or nuance.
Set for release on April 24 2026, Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua, steps into that space with intention. Rather than retelling what the world already knows, the film positions itself as a closer look at the man behind the phenomenon, tracing his journey from childhood prodigy to global icon, and the relentless discipline that defined his path.
At the center of the film is Jaafar Jackson, whose casting carries both weight and expectation. Portraying one of the most recognizable figures in history is no small task. But, it also signals a continuation…a passing of story through lineage itself.
Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson and Director Antoine Fuqua on the set of MICHAEL. Photo Credit: Glen Wilson for Lionsgate.
Beyond Performance
What makes Michael significant is not simply its subject, but its timing.
We are in a moment where audiences are asking for more than spectacle. There is a growing desire to understand the full picture. To sit with complexity rather than reduce it. In that sense, this film arrives not just as entertainment, but as an opportunity to revisit a legacy that has often been flattened by headlines, persecution, and myth.
A Personal Frame
For many, the connection to Michael Jackson was never casual.
Michael was my The Beatles. The reference point for what greatness looked like, felt like, and sounded like. But more than that. He was a constant. As a kid I lined up outside stores to buy whatever I could find. Records. Posters. Magazines released officially by Michael. Anything that carried his name. This was before algorithms, before streaming, before the world moved at the speed it does now. You had to show up for the things and the people you loved…physically. I wrote letters. I mailed letters. I stayed glued to television, video releases, album releases, my friends and I, my parents and I we followed the signal whenever a release was announced because when we were at schools our parents took the time to stand in those lines. It was a shared responsibility.
And we did so with out pressure, maybe with some tears and begging but there was an ease to it and the fanbase rode strong.
Judah Edwards as Young Tito, Jaylen Hunter as Young Marlon, Juliano Valdi as Young MJ, Nathaniel McIntyre as Young Jackie and Jayden Harville as Young Jermaine in Michael. Courtesy of Lionsgate.
Michael existed in a time of records, tapes, VHS tapes, of physical memory, of waiting, of anticipation. But he also existed under immense pressure. A level of scrutiny so intense, so relentless, that no social media figure today can fully relate to it. There was no separation between the person and the spectacle.
And still, he created.
We watched him the only way we could. Glued to our televisions, trying to understand something that felt larger than entertainment. It was beyond that. He became a compass. For movement. For care. For the belief that we could, in fact, heal the world.
I once got fired from a job for saying I loved Michael as a fan and supporter of his work.
Not for what I did. But for what I said, and what it represented. That moment revealed something deeper: the conversation around Michael Jackson has never just been about music. It has always carried tension, contradiction, and an unspoken discomfort around how we hold space for complex Black figures in public life.
And still the love remains. I remember a quote shared in a clip during the This Is It rehearsals shortly before his passing.
“You want to show people time like they’ve never seen before.” - Michael Jackson
That line stays with me. Not just as a reflection of his artistry, but as a reminder that true cultural impact isn’t about performance alone. It’s about creating moments people carry with them.
Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in Michael. Courtesy of Lionsgate.
A Cultural Reflection
For Black audiences in particular, the conversation around Michael Jackson has always existed in layers.
He is at once:
a symbol of excellence
a product of an industry that both elevated and consumed him
a figure whose humanity has often been overshadowed by his myth
Michael has the potential to re-open that conversation. Not to resolve it, but to hold it more fully.
The Return
This film does not introduce Michael Jackson.
It reminds us.
Not just of who he was but of what he required of us as an audience.
To witness. To feel. To believe in something larger than ourselves.
Michael was never just an artist.
He was a moment.
A movement.
A measure of what felt possible.
And now, through Michael, that story moves again.
Not as nostalgia.
But as continuation.
Because legends are not sustained by visibility alone.
They are sustained by memory.
And memory, when held collectively, does not disappear.
It returns. It rises. It reminds. - Kimberley “Dooshima” Jev