Colin In Black & White Trailer: Ava DuVernay's New Limited Series Comes To Netflix

What do you get when you cross Academy-Award nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay and NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick? A new Netflix series, of course. The pair teamed up to create "Colin in Black & White," a biographical drama about the early years of Kaepernick's life. 

Our first look at the series has arrived in the form of a teaser, where a young Kaepernick (played by Jaden Michael) walks us through the difficulties of his everyday life. All the while, Kaepernick is laying down some intense narration, while the prestige of DuVernay's fingerprints make themselves clear. Not many details of the series' plot are revealed, but the teaser gives a pretty solid idea of what else we can expect.

Check out the teaser for "Colin in Black & White" below.

Back in 2016, professional athlete Colin Kaepernick sparked a firestorm of discussion when he kneeled during the national anthem. Then a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, Kaepernick made national news for his efforts to protest police violence and racial injustice. Unsurprisingly, backlash was immediate: Kaepernick became a hot topic of debate, with many declaring his actions disrespectful to the flag and the country. By the time the season wrapped up, Kaepernick was a free agent and has since gone unsigned in the NFL.

The football star has expressed no regret about his protest, doubling down on the importance of taking action. However negative the response seemed on one side, it was praised on the other. Kaepernick ignited necessary conversation and set an example for celebrities of all kinds to use their platforms for activism and social justice dialogue. "Colin in Black & White" seems to be an extension of this work. Co-created by DuVernay and Kaepernick, the six-episode series chronicles Kaepernicks's coming-of-age as a Black adopted child of a white family in Central California. According to Netflix, the show will "guide viewers through a robust and colorfully presented array of historical and contemporary contextual moments." Kaepernick narrates the series, with Jaden Michael playing his younger self. Nick Offerman and Mary-Louise Parker star as his adoptive parents.

The teaser sees Kaepernick narrate while Michael's Colin pushes through his struggles. Kaepernicks hints at the difficulty ahead, beginning the teaser by saying, "life puts us on a path, sometimes winding. But always ours." Teenaged Colin is gifted but searching for answers, running the gamut of emotions from frustration and anger to pure joy. By the end, Kaepernick is delivering some much-needed advice, telling the audience and his younger self, "Believe in your path, and by doing that, we can become who we're destined to be."

DuVernay will direct episodes, along with Kenny Leon, and Robert Townsend. The pilot episode will screen this week at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.

"Colin in Black & White" arrives on Netflix on October 29, 2021.