See the first look of Cynthia Erivo as Aretha Franklin on Genius

Cynthia Erivo has officially transformed into a Genius.

Production is underway on National Geographic’s Genius: Aretha, in which Erivo, who can currently be seen as Harriet Tubman in Harriet, stars as music legend Aretha Franklin, who died in August 2018. Below, EW has the exclusive first look at Erivo as the Queen of Soul.

For the third installment of Genius, which will premiere in May 2020, Erivo follows in the footsteps of Geoffrey Rush as Albert Einstein and Antonio Banderas as Pablo Picasso. The eight-part limited series is also set to star Courtney B. Vance (The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story) as C.L. Franklin, David Cross (Arrested Development) as Jerry Wexler, Malcolm Barrett (Timeless) as Ted White, Patrice Covington (Broadway’s The Color Purple) as Erma Franklin, Kimberly Hébert Gregory (Vice Principals) as Ruth Bowen, Rebecca Naomi Jones (The Big Sick) as Carolyn Franklin, and Sanai Victoria (black-ish) as Little Re.

In addition to Genius, Erivo’s busy 2020 will include HBO’s miniseries The Outsider — and possibly an Oscar nomination.

Related content:

• Cynthia Erivo has found the next historical figure for her to play: Aretha Franklin on Genius
• How Cynthia Erivo fused soft love with ‘warrior spirit’ to lead Harriet Tubman biopic
• Julia Roberts was suggested to play Harriet Tubman by studio exec, says Harriet screenwriter