Prime Video will release all eight episodes of The Greatest, its scripted series about Muhammad Ali, on Wednesday 4 November. Amazon describes it as the first authorized scripted series about Ali’s life, and it is built around the years when Cassius Clay of Louisville became Muhammad Ali. It will stream in more than 240 countries and territories.
Watch the trailer
The cast
Jaalen Best plays Cassius Clay and Muhammad Ali. Amazon has confirmed the supporting cast:
- Omari Hardwick as Cassius Clay Sr.
- Dana Gourrier as Odessa “Bird” Clay
- Kai Parham as Rudy Clay
- Amin Joseph as Sonny Liston
- Giovanni Ribisi as Angelo Dundee
- Michael Ealy as Malcolm X
The casting tells you where the series spends its time. Ali’s parents, his brother, his trainer, his most famous early opponent and Malcolm X are all in the frame, which points to a story about the family, the corner and the politics around the fighter as much as the fights themselves.
Prime Video
Prime Video
Prime Video
What it is about
According to Amazon, the series follows Clay through the personal, professional and political battles he fought inside and outside the ring, in a changing America. Amazon’s own summary of the angle is that the world remembers an icon, while the series is about the man: a husband, father, brother and son.
Who is behind it
Ben Watkins created the series and serves as showrunner and executive producer through Blue Monday Productions. Lonnie Ali, Muhammad Ali’s widow, is an executive producer and provides the production with access to his estate, according to Amazon.
Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society produces alongside Authentic Studios, Roc Nation, Polygram Entertainment and Grace: A Storytelling Company. Executive producers also include Elizabeth Raposo of Outlier Society, Marc Rosen of Authentic Brands Group, Desiree Perez of Roc Nation and Josh Wakely of Grace.
How to watch it
This is a full-season drop, not a weekly release, so the whole story is available on day one. Prime Video released the official trailer on 14 October alongside the key art.
Ali on screen before The Greatest
Amazon bills The Greatest as “the first authorized scripted series” about Ali’s life, made with Lonnie Ali as an executive producer and access to the estate. It joins a long shelf of films and documentaries, several of which are easy to find before 4 November.
- Muhammad Ali (2021). Ken Burns directed this four-part documentary with Sarah Burns and David McMahon, who also wrote it. PBS first aired it over four nights from 19 September 2021, two hours a night, and its show page now says “All episodes now streaming.” In the US it streams on PBS.org and the PBS app, with PBS Passport giving station members extended access.
- What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali (2019). Antoine Fuqua’s two-part documentary, which HBO Max describes as chronicling “the extraordinary life” of Ali, streams on HBO Max.
- When We Were Kings (1996). Leon Gast’s 87-minute documentary follows Ali as he trains for the Rumble in the Jungle, his heavyweight title fight against George Foreman. It has a title page on the Criterion Channel, the subscription service from the Criterion Collection, which also carries a conversation with Gast about the film.
- Ali (2001). Michael Mann’s 156-minute biopic stars Will Smith as Ali, with Jamie Foxx as Drew “Bundini” Brown, Jon Voight as Howard Cosell, and Mario Van Peebles, Jeffrey Wright and Jada Pinkett Smith. Apple TV lists it on its own and in a two-film collection with Big George Foreman.
Viewers coming to The Greatest with an appetite for boxing stories can also look at Mike Tyson’s own docuseries on Netflix, which arrived on 13 October.
Ben Watkins at Prime Video
The Greatest is the third Prime Video series from creator and showrunner Ben Watkins. His most recent is Cross, built on characters from James Patterson’s best-selling books and starring Aldis Hodge as Alex Cross. Amazon says seasons one and two are streaming now and that Prime Video has renewed it for a third season, with no date yet. Like The Greatest, Cross reaches more than 240 countries and territories. Fans of Prime Video’s other long-running thriller can catch up on The Terminal List as well.
Before Cross, Watkins created and wrote Hand of God, which Prime Video describes as “a psychological drama about a morally-corrupt judge who suffers a breakdown.” Ron Perlman plays Judge Pernell Harris, with Dana Delany and Andre Royo co-starring. Its second season of 10 episodes arrived on 10 March 2017, and Prime Video still carries the series. At the time, Amazon introduced Watkins as a writer known for Burn Notice.
Where to watch
- The Greatest: Prime Video · Global (CA US UK AU NZ; more than 240 countries and territories) · all eight episodes from Wednesday 4 November
- What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali (2019): HBO Max · US · Streaming now
- Muhammad Ali (Ken Burns, 2021): PBS · US · Streaming now
- Cross seasons one and two (Ben Watkins): Prime Video · Global · Streaming now
Sources
- Amazon MGM Studios press: The World Remembers Muhammad Ali as an Icon. The Series Reveals the Man. Prime Video Debuts Official Trailer and Key Art for THE GREATEST, 14 Oct 2026
- Amazon News: Watch the trailer for ‘The Greatest’, 14 Oct 2026
- Amazon: Watch the trailer for The Greatest, the Muhammad Ali series coming to Prime Video November 4, accessed 23 Oct 2026
- PBS: MUHAMMAD ALI to Premiere September 19, 2021 on PBS
- PBS: Muhammad Ali, accessed 23 Oct 2026
- HBO Max: What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali, accessed 23 Oct 2026
- The Criterion Channel: When We Were Kings, accessed 23 Oct 2026
- Apple TV: Ali, accessed 23 Oct 2026
- Amazon: Cross on Prime Video, accessed 23 Oct 2026
- Amazon: Season Two of Amazon Original Series Hand of God Launches Exclusively on Prime Video on March 10, 15 Feb 2017
- Prime Video: Hand of God, accessed 23 Oct 2026
Titles in this story.
Explore The Rerun
Before you go
