6 Things You Won’t See In The New Michael Jackson Movie

As the long-awaited Michael Jackson biopic, “Michael,” prepares to make its debut, there’s a lot of chatter in anticipation of what fans might see. Thankfully, due to the influencers and early critics who’ve already seen the film, and from what we’ve been able to gather, we have some good intel on what you might not see portrayed on screen.

We promise we won’t spoil anything or get too into the weeds, but in order to set what we feel are proper expectations for the film, here’s what we’ve been able to gather.

Janet Jackson

As we previously told you, Michael’s sister Janet—whom he shared a close bond with growing up and all the way into their adulthood—is not in the film. A rep for the studios involved with the film explained that she opted out of participating and that the decision was solely up to her. But we do know that Michael had two other sisters, Rebbie and LaToya, so there’s a strong possibility that at least one of the three will make some sort of appearance.

Michael’s 2005 Criminal Trial

As evidenced by the trailer, various interviews with the director Antoine Fuqua and producer Graham King, this movie centers on the beginning of Michael’s career starting from his early days in the Jackson 5 up until his eventual solo stardom. While you can expect to see snippets of Michael singing with his brothers, striking out on his own with “Off the Wall,” breaking barriers with “Thriller” and Quincy Jones, and a glimpse into his “Bad”-era—the controversy, a.k.a. his mid-2000s sexual abuse scandal that threatened to tarnish his legacy—won’t be included, as it happened decades later.

So if you were curious to see how a movie would portray this dark chapter of his life, you’ll have to wait until the eventual sequel film (of which star Jaafar Jackson, Michael’s nephew and son of his brother Jermaine recently said is in “early development.”)

The Neverland Ranch

As multiple folks on social media have pointed out and as inferred from the trailer, “Michael” goes all the way up to the late 1980s, sometime after he dropped his “Bad” album. While we do see some recreated footage of him famously performing the song at Wembley Stadium—which took place in 1988, the same year he purchased his famous Neverland Ranch in California—the movie doesn’t appear that it’ll show that famous dwelling spot. So once again, we’ll have to wait until part two to potentially get a glimpse of that.

Michael’s Childhood Abuse

Seeing as how this film is being positioned as a “family-oriented” film (and that’s coming from Marlon Jackson himself), you can rest assured that the movie won’t get too deep in showcasing the moments where Michael suffered alleged abuse at the hands of his father Joseph. Granted, we’ve all read about it and heard about it from Michael’s memoir and various interviews. But for the sake of this movie being enjoyable by the masses, there’s a high probability that this won’t be a primary focus.

Every Major Moment in Michael’s Life

Look, we get it. Michael’s fandom is long, wide and deep. People have immense emotional attachment to his music, his story, his family, etc. And fans also have had decades to get into the nitty gritty of his lore, his relationships (familial, romantic and otherwise), and immerse themselves in anything and everything involving Michael. But considering how he literally became a star as a child and lived on this Earth only until he was 50 and gave the world so much—it is quite literally impossible to include every moment fans think should be included in this movie.

Yes, there will be the things that we love (music videos, the fashions, the family). But it should go without saying that there will naturally be things that are excluded for a variety of reasons (timing constraints, legal constraints, relevance etc.). This is a biopic true enough, but like people, the cast, and others have been saying: this is only the beginning. So it would behoove people to taper their expectations so they can enjoy the film for what it is and magic that it has to share with the world.

Serious Depth

To put it plainly, if you’re an MJ fan, then you’ll be pleased with what’s shown onscreen. You’ll see a lot of the familiar things you’ve read about, watched, researched over the years. It’ll feel like your favorite comfort film that you’ve seen time and time again that you still pull enjoyment from.

That said though, if you’re going into it looking for some serious depth or for the film to dive deep into certain aspects of his life—then you’re going to be disappointed. The film leans a lot more towards hinting and subtleties versus explicit, head-on addresses and that might be upsetting for viewers who were hoping to gain more insight about Michael or learn something new.

“Michael” is set to premiere on April 24.