David Harewood Is Balthazar: The Wise Man to Watch in Angel's 'ZERO A.D.,' Also Starring Jim Caviezel

2 days ago

5 min read

Angel Studios brings its Nativity epic to theaters December 11, and the Homeland and Supergirl star is the Black face among the Magi in a story that, for once, starts with Herod's terror rather than the manger.

By Sahndra Fon Dufe, Black Film Wire

David Harewood as Balthazar in ZERO A.D., Angel Studios’ Nativity epic, in theaters December 11. | Cover design: Black Film Wire. Image courtesy of Angel Studios. — David Harewood as Balthazar in *ZERO A.D.*, Angel Studios’ Nativity epic, in theaters December 11. | Cover design: Black Film Wire. Image courtesy of Angel Studios.

Every Christmas we get a Nativity story. This year, Angel Studios is giving us the one where you hold your breath. ZERO A.D., the new film from Sound of Freedom director Alejandro Monteverde, opens in theaters December 11. It tells the birth of Christ through the lens of King Herod's fear and Mary's fight to keep her baby alive. And standing among the wise men, as Balthazar, is David Harewood (Homeland, Supergirl).

Harewood brings the weight to Balthazar

In most Christmas pageants, Balthazar is the wise man with the crown and the line nobody remembers. In Western art he is often shown as the African king of the three, the one who reminded medieval Europe that the world kneeling at the manger was bigger than Europe. Casting Harewood in that role puts one of Britain's most respected Black actors right in the middle of the story.

Harewood was born in Small Heath, Birmingham, to parents who came to England from Barbados as part of the Windrush generation. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. American audiences know him as CIA counterterrorism chief David Estes on Homeland and as J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, on Supergirl. He has also played Martin Luther King Jr.

on stage in The Mountaintop, made the BAFTA-nominated documentary Psychosis and Me about his own mental health, and this year plays the title role in Othello. He brings real gravity to the screen, and a Magi role needs exactly that.

He shares the journey with Marco Khan as Melchior and Luca Riemma as Gaspar, credited as the King of India.

[ ZERO A.D. | Official Trailer | In Theaters Dec 11. Courtesy of Angel Studios]

A story told from Herod's side of the palace

The ensemble around them is stacked. Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, Sound of Freedom), who once played Jesus, is almost unrecognizable as Herod. Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One, Bloodline) plays Nahash. Sam Worthington (Avatar) is Antipater, and Gael García Bernal (Coco, Y Tu Mamá También) is Joachim. Jamie Ward plays Joseph, and Mary is played by Deva Cassel (The Leopard), the daughter of Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel. That casting closes a neat circle. Twenty-two years ago, Bellucci played Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ, opposite Caviezel's Jesus. Now her daughter plays the mother of Jesus, and Caviezel is the king trying to kill him.

Angel's own logline sets the tone: "Before kings and empires feared Him, a tyrant sought to erase Him." This is a Nativity told as a thriller. The danger, not the hay bales, is the point.

Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, is almost unrecognizable as King Herod in ZERO A.D. | Image courtesy of Angel Studios. — Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in *The Passion of the Christ*, is almost unrecognizable as King Herod in *ZERO A.D.* | Image courtesy of Angel Studios.

Made in Morocco

Ouarzazate, Morocco, the desert town nicknamed “Ouallywood,” where ZERO A.D. was filmed | Image courtesy of High Atlas. — Ouarzazate, Morocco, the desert town nicknamed “Ouallywood,” where *ZERO A.D.* was filmed | Image courtesy of High Atlas.

The film was shot in Ouarzazate, Morocco, the desert town at the edge of the High Atlas that the industry calls "Ouallywood." It is home to Atlas Studios, widely described as the largest film studio in the world by land area. Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven all filmed there too, so ancient Judea is in very experienced hands. The supporting cast reflects the location. Aïssam Bouali plays Ezekiel, Brahim Rachik i plays Zechariah, Mayssae El Halla plays Rachel, and Ilham Oujri, Youssef Tounzi and Abdellatif Chaouqi round out the village. For a story set in ancient Judea, filming in North Africa with regional performers gives the film a texture that a Hollywood backlot never could.

The date moved, and so did the stakes

ZERO A.D., first developed under the title Bethlehem, was originally set for December 19, 2025. Angel moved it to make room for its animated musical DAVID, which we covered last Christmas when the studio launched its campaign to give one million kids a free trip to the cinema, many of them for the very first time. It worked. DAVID opened with $22 million, the biggest debut in Angel's history. Now ZERO A.D. gets its own Christmas run, opening December 11, 2026, with an Angel Guild age rating of 13+. That puts it in theaters two weeks before Paramount's The Angry Birds Movie 3 (December 23), so families will be choosing between a cartoon bird and a very serious baby this holiday.

Monteverde's last Angel release, Sound of Freedom, grossed $251 million worldwide on a $14.5 million budget. Expectations are high.

For faith audiences who want to dig in, Angel has released a roundtable discussion, "Is ZERO A.D. Scripturally Accurate?", that tests the film against the Gospel accounts.

Official poster for ZERO A.D., in theaters December 11, 2026. | Image courtesy of Angel Studios

Why we’re in Angel’s Corner

We'll say it plainly: Black Film Wire is in Angel Studios' corner. We want more strong, cinematic Bible storytelling, made with real craft and real budgets, and right now that's exactly what's happening. Between Angel's own slate (The King of Kings, DAVID and now ZERO A.D.), Dallas Jenkins' The Chosen and Amazon's House of David, faith on screen is having its biggest moment in decades, and audiences keep showing up.

And we love the choice of Harewood. It's so well suited. Balthazar is a king who travels a long way on faith alone, and Harewood brings exactly the gravity and stillness that role needs. We've seen plenty of Nativity films where the only Black presence is a wise man with two lines and a gold box, so we'll be watching to see how much the film gives him. But the casting itself is a statement.

Then there's Jim Caviezel. The man literally played Jesus, and now he's Herod, the king who wants Jesus dead. That's range, and it's a real refusal to be typecast. Impressive.

The global church is overwhelmingly African, Caribbean, Asian and Latin American, and the Christmas story has always belonged to all of us. It's good to see the screen start to catch up.

And personally? We're taking our Bible and my popcorn.