Trevante Rhodes plays Mike Tyson in Hulu’s Mike, an unauthorized look at the boxer’s life that premiered on August 25, 2022. The series draws on the team behind I, Tonya (2017), including director Craig Gillespie, executive producers Tom Ackerley, Margot Robbie and Bryan Unkeless. Russell Hornsby plays Don King, the promoter who shaped Tyson’s early career.
Trailer, via Hulu.
The Tyson Nobody Authorized
The show is unauthorized. Tyson was neither involved nor compensated for the project. That history hangs over every episode, shaping how viewers should approach it.
Rhodes Takes the Title Role
Rhodes plays Tyson across the series’ eight episodes. His performance carries the weight of a man whose fame arrived young and stayed with him for decades.
Hornsby’s Don King gives the show a second anchor. Their scenes together sell the push-and-pull relationship between promoter and fighter.
The Mixed Reception
Critics were divided on Mike. The series drew mixed reviews from critics, and Tyson himself took issue with the project. He criticized the show for being made without his involvement nor compensation.
What the Show Covers
The series spans Tyson’s rise to heavyweight champion, his fall from grace and his later years. Specific plot details beyond the official synopsis remain unclear, but the show’s scope is broad:
- Tyson’s early fights and his rapid rise to the top
- His marriages and personal struggles off the canvas
- The media circus around his career
- His return to boxing in later life
The show aims to explore the wild, tragic and controversial life and career of Tyson, one of the most polarizing figures in sports culture. That ambition is stated plainly in the series’ description.
Where It Falls Short
The show’s biggest problem is its lack of authorization. Tyson’s own account of his life would have brought a different perspective to the story, one the series never gets.
Without Tyson’s input, the show leans on speculation and outside accounts. That gap shows in places where the story feels thin or incomplete.
A Final Word on Mike
Mike is a show about a public figure whose life has been told many times. This version adds little new to the record, and its lack of authorization leaves a stain on the whole project.
The acting holds up better than the material around it. Rhodes and Hornsby sell their scenes even when the script beneath them is weak.
The show runs 8 episodes across its single season, airing weekly from August 25 through September 15, 2022. That pacing gives the story room to breathe, but it also stretches material that could have been tighter.
There is value in revisiting Tyson’s story. There is less value in doing it without his permission.
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