I am disappointed I have to write this, because Denzel Washington may be my favorite actor. I think he is smart, talented, and always entertaining. He is also very open about his faith, which these days is pretty unusual. He strikes me as a stand-up guy, not that I spend a lot of time looking into actors’ private lives.
But c’mon, Netflix, the Venn Diagram between Denzel Washington and Hannibal the Carthaginian General includes no overlap unless you count the fact that they are both males and human beings. Hannibal lived on the African continent, sort of (he hailed from what is now modern Tunisia, but was of Phoenician descent, sharing racial stock with modern Lebanese). Carthage was founded as an outpost of the Phoenician traders, who dominated the Mediterranean trade routes for centuries.
Hannibal was also in his 20s when he led his troops against the Romans, famously taking…
