Zero Day: Robert De Niro Leads Netflix’s High-Stakes Cyberattack Thriller

Robert De Niro has spent decades defining some of cinema’s most memorable characters. With Zero Day, he takes on a new challenge: leading a television series for the first time, while also serving as one of its executive producers.

Now streaming on Netflix, the six-episode limited series follows former U.S. President George Mullen, played by De Niro, as he comes out of retirement to investigate a catastrophic cyberattack that leaves thousands dead and throws the country into chaos.

Created by Eric Newman, known for Griselda, The Watcher, Narcos, and Narcos: Mexico, and Noah Oppenheim, whose credits include President, NBC News, TODAY, Jackie, The Thing About Pam, and The Maze Runner, the series combines political intrigue, conspiracy, technology, and a deeply personal story.

The attack may threaten the stability of the nation, but Mullen is also dealing with painful secrets of his own.

“Right now, our actual world is scarier,” De Niro told Netflix.

A Nation Under Attack

At the center of Zero Day is the aftermath of a devastating cyberattack. Thousands of people are killed as technology failures spread across the United States, leaving the country vulnerable and fueling fear, misinformation, and political instability.

Newman described the series as a story about what happens after a cyberattack “kills thousands of people and threatens to push a nation already on the precipice over the edge.”

President Evelyn Mitchell, played by Angela Bassett, turns to Mullen to lead the newly established Zero Day Commission. The group is given an unprecedented task: uncover who was responsible for the attack and determine how to prevent another catastrophe.

The investigation quickly becomes more complicated as powerful interests in technology, Wall Street, and government collide. Disinformation spreads, competing agendas emerge, and the search for the truth becomes increasingly difficult.

Oppenheim said the series also examines the personal cost of political power, particularly for people asked to confront enormous national crises while trying to protect their families and private lives.

For Mullen, the investigation is ultimately inseparable from his own past. His determination to uncover the truth forces him to confront dark secrets and puts everything he values at risk.

Robert De Niro’s George Mullen

Mullen is a former president who remains enormously popular and respected, but his public reputation does not tell the whole story.

After leaving office, he has retired from public life. That changes when President Mitchell asks him to return and take charge of the Zero Day Commission.

De Niro said Mullen’s commitment to speaking plainly is central to the character.

“That’s the spine of my character in the show,” De Niro said. “Don’t dodge anything. Don’t play games. Be honest about what’s going on so that the public knows what’s going on.”

That straightforward approach becomes increasingly difficult in a world where competing narratives, conspiracy theories, and deliberate deception make it harder to distinguish fact from fiction.

Zero Day repeatedly returns to a central question: how can people establish the truth when a country is in crisis and everyone seems to have a different version of reality?

The series also asks whether the forces destabilizing society are truly beyond anyone’s control, or whether some of them are created by people themselves.

The Attack Leaves 3,402 Dead

The scale of the disaster becomes clear from the series’ central figure: 3,402 people die on Zero Day.

The attack creates widespread technological outages and what the series describes as “absolute nation-wide terror.” With the possibility of another attack looming, Mullen and his team have limited time to identify those responsible.

The investigation takes him into a complicated network involving government officials, intelligence operatives, political figures, billionaires, media personalities, and technology leaders.

As the trailer suggests, public perception is another battleground. President Mitchell warns Mullen, “People will believe what they need to believe.”

The Cast of Zero Day

De Niro leads a large ensemble cast of established actors, each playing a figure with a connection to Mullen, the investigation, or the political forces surrounding it.

Robert De Niro (The Irishman) plays George Mullen, the former U.S. president brought back into public life to lead the Zero Day Commission.

Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) plays Evelyn Mitchell, the current U.S. president. A highly perceptive and skilled political tactician, Mitchell is the person who recruits Mullen to take on the unprecedented investigation.

Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog, Fargo) is Roger Carlson, Mullen’s former aide. Roger has become a trusted political fixer and ambitious operator who sees Mullen’s return as an opportunity to get back onto the national stage.

Lizzy Caplan (Fleishman Is in Trouble, Fatal Attraction) plays Alexandra Mullen, George’s daughter and a young congressional representative from New York. She has worked to build her own political identity while distancing herself from her father’s legacy.

Connie Britton (White Lotus, Friday Night Lights) is Valerie Whitesell, Mullen’s former chief of staff. Intelligent and politically savvy, Valerie returns to public life to manage Mullen’s new role.

Joan Allen (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Contender) plays Sheila Mullen, the former first lady and a nominee to the federal bench. She is supportive of her husband and family while pursuing strong professional ambitions of her own.

Matthew Modine (Stranger Things, Oppenheimer) plays Richard Dreyer, the confident and colorful Speaker of the House, an experienced politician with considerable influence.

Bill Camp (The Queen’s Gambit, The Night Of) is CIA Director Jeremy Lasch, an insider who appears to know the secrets of nearly everyone around him. For Mullen and his circle, Lasch could become either a dangerous adversary or an important ally.

Dan Stevens (Gaslit, Beauty and the Beast) plays Evan Green, the charismatic host of a hugely popular political television program. Calculating and divisive, Green becomes Mullen’s most vocal critic and a major public antagonist.

McKinley Belcher III (We Own This City, Ozark) is Carl Otieno, a brilliant and determined Department of Justice lawyer who serves as the commission’s lead investigator.

Gaby Hoffmann (Transparent, Girls) plays Monica Kidder, a controversial Silicon Valley billionaire whose technological power could either assist Mullen’s investigation or make it considerably harder.

Clark Gregg (Painkiller, Florida Man) is Robert Lyndon, a billionaire corporate raider and provocateur who has become highly skilled at manipulating politics.

Mark Ivanir (Away, Barry) plays Natan, an intelligence operative and longtime confidant of Mullen from a period when intelligence work and trust carried a different meaning.

What Does “Who Killed Bambi?” Mean?

One of the recurring mysteries surrounding Mullen is the phrase “Who Killed Bambi?”, which he repeatedly writes in his journal.

The words come from “Who Killed Bambi?”, a song by the Sex Pistols that becomes closely associated with Mullen’s hallucinations and altered perceptions throughout the series.

The song carries a particularly painful meaning for him. It was playing when Mullen discovered that his son had died from an overdose. The tragedy ultimately contributed to his decision not to seek a second presidential term.

The connection between the song and Mullen’s experiences began with Newman and Oppenheim. While looking for inspiration for Zero Day, they watched Adam Curtis’ BBC docuseries Can’t Get You Out of My Head, where they heard the song.

The song stayed with them as they developed the musical identity of Mullen’s reality-bending experiences.

Oppenheim explained to Tudum that they wanted something that could plausibly have been listened to by someone the age of Mullen’s son. The lyrics also connected with the themes of the series, while the song’s strange and unsettling quality suited Mullen’s increasingly disturbing experiences.

Behind the Scenes

Zero Day marks De Niro’s first television series in which he both stars and serves as an executive producer.

Newman and Oppenheim created and wrote the series and executive produced it alongside Pulitzer Prize winner Michael S. Schmidt, who also worked as a writer, and Jonathan Glickman.

Academy Award nominee Lesli Linka Glatter, known for Homeland, directed all six episodes and also served as an executive producer.

For Newman, having De Niro involved was a particularly significant achievement.

“As a lifelong fan of American cinema, no actor looms larger for me than Robert De Niro,” Newman said. “To have him as a producing partner and star in this show is beyond our wildest dreams.”

Newman also credited Netflix for its continued support and praised the creative partnership with Oppenheim, Glatter, and Glickman.

Oppenheim described Zero Day as a “ripped-from-reality thriller.” He said Schmidt’s work as a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, along with the stories that kept Schmidt awake at night, helped inspire the series.

De Niro was also deeply involved in the production. Newman said the actor became a hands-on creative partner who read everything throughout the various stages of development.

Watch Zero Day on Netflix

The trailer sets the tone with nationwide technological failures, widespread panic, and the looming possibility of another devastating attack.

De Niro’s Mullen is at the center of the effort to uncover the truth. But as political interests, misinformation, personal trauma, and powerful adversaries begin to converge, the investigation becomes increasingly dangerous.

The teaser offers another glimpse at Mullen’s mission, with Bassett’s President Mitchell reminding him that people will believe what they need to believe.

Zero Day is now streaming on Netflix.