Who Will Be the Next James Bond? Diving Into the Latest Casting Rumors and Franchise Future

Lately, the name James Bond has been everywhere. Daniel Craig said goodbye to his role as Bond in 2021's No Time to Die. Since then people have wondered who would play 007 next. The rumor mill really sped up when news broke in February that Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson sold a big part of the franchise to Amazon MGM Studios. This deal was reportedly worth about $1 billion. Things are certainly different now for the world's most famous spy.

Then in March we heard that well-respected producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman would be taking charge of the next James Bond movie. Pascal helped bring in the Daniel Craig era when she was at Sony. These two wasted no time getting started. Just over a week later Amazon MGM announced at CinemaCon that Pascal and Heyman were already in London "getting started" on the 26th Bond film. It is exciting to see such quick movement.

However there was no news about who would play Bond or even who would direct the movie. The guessing game continues. Most people seem to agree on one point though. The next actor will likely be British. This keeps a certain tradition alive for the character.

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The name brought up most often is Henry Cavill. Bond expert Mark O’Connell described the Man of Steel star as the "loose second reserve choice" when Daniel Craig got the role back in 2005. Cavill is 41 years old now. O’Connell who wrote a book about being a Bond fan explained that often the runner-up from a previous casting gets picked next time around. Roger Moore was looked at for the first Bond film Dr. No. Timothy Dalton was considered in the early 1970s. These actors who waited sometimes got their turn. Henry Cavill has worked with Amazon before and he certainly looks the part. He wears clothes well. I think it would be great if it was Henry Cavill.

However not everyone agrees. Graham Rye editor and publisher of 007 Magazine stated "Lots of fans want Henry Cavill which only just proves to me that they don’t know what they’re talking about. The man’s just not James Bond." Rye has a strong opinion on who should play Bond. He added "There’s only one actor I’ve seen around that could do justice to the role very much in the style of Sean Connery and that’s an actor called Stuart Martin." Martin is 39 years old. He is known for playing the Duke in the British series Miss Scarlet and the Duke. Rye even declared that if Amazon does not cast Stuart Martin in 007's role for Bond 26 he will not bother to see the picture. He feels the other actors often mentioned are totally wrong for the role. He believes they could not convince him any more than Woody Allen could. That is a very direct opinion.

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While Rye quickly dismisses other candidates O’Connell is more open to the possibilities. He mentioned Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a strong choice. Taylor-Johnson is 34 years old. O’Connell said Bullet Train really made him think of Taylor-Johnson for the role. He saw him as a mix of Roger Moore and Daniel Craig. He was very British almost too London. He was not heavy but he did the heavy lifting. He was making fun of the situation while doing it. This kind of balance is something Bond could use.

Another actor with a similar feeling according to O’Connell is Nicholas Hoult. O’Connell even has a dream casting idea of Nicholas Hoult as Bond and Hugh Grant as M. Hoult is 35 years old. He even has a fun title for this pairing: "About a Bond." That sounds like a good time to me. Kingsley Ben-Adir is another strong option in O’Connell's eyes. Ben-Adir is 38 years old. He played Bob Marley in One Love and has been in Marvel’s Secret Invasion. O’Connell noted there is something about him. He has that Connery swagger and bounce. This is a very important quality for Bond. George MacKay who starred in 1917 is also an interesting choice. MacKay is 33 years old. O’Connell believes he is moving up and could become a very big name in Hollywood.

For a choice that mixes things up a bit O’Connell suggested Taron Egerton. Egerton is 35. He played a version of Bond in The Kingsman which O’Connell calls "council estate Bond." This could be a fun and different direction for the character. A newer name being talked about is Harris Dickinson. Dickinson is 28 years old. O’Connell is not sure if he is totally right for Bond. However he thinks Dickinson is right for a younger audience and is a rising star. He finds it interesting to watch a new movie star who does not know he is the movie star yet. Oliver Jackson-Cohen is 38 years old. He has also come up in the 007 conversation. O’Connell says he has done some British TV. He is very handsome and good. The camera likes him. This is always a good sign for an actor.

Then there is Leo Woodall. Woodall is 28. He was in The White Lotus season 2. O’Connell thinks he is too puppy-faced for Bond. Another name that appeared in a quick report is Patrick Schwarzenegger. He is a favorite in this mix because of his performance in a hit HBO show. An insider claimed that "Nothing is off the table for the new crew at Amazon. He's definitely the talk of the moment and been noticed by them." However, Patrick might face strong competition from other names such as Aaron Taylor-Johnson Regé-Jean Page and Idris Elba.

A completely new name emerging as a potential favorite is English actor James Nelson-Joyce. He is known for roles in shows like The Outlaws and Black Mirror. Nelson-Joyce stated he would love to play 007. He even said "I mean... double-O Scouse I'm here for it." However Nelson-Joyce is 36 years old. This might not fit rumors that Amazon wants to cast a much younger actor. Playing Bond would also be very different from his usual villain roles. Even so his talent is undeniable. Hopefully there will be a role for him in the franchise's next story.

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The discussion about who would be the best actor for Bond seems to depend on how someone views the character. Graham Rye insists it has to be a British Caucasian white actor. He also strongly believes there will never be a "Jane Bond" calling it a completely ridiculous idea. Rye added that "You can’t make Bond woke. Bond as he admits to Judy Dench in Goldeneye is a sexist misogynist dinosaur which he probably is. But who cares? That’s why everybody loves him. It’s fantasy. It’s what we’d all like to do what we like to be like. But we know we can’t because we’ll get our faces slapped or our noses broken." This view suggests keeping Bond exactly as he has been.

James Bond historian John Cork has a different focus. He co-authored James Bond The Legacy. Cork said "I’m not worried about the actor about the director or about the writer. My concern is the character of James Bond. If you get the character right he will work in any form. If you get him wrong he will never work." He went further. "Could James Bond be a woman? Could James be a different race? The character just has to be James Bond. That’s the core of it there. If somebody wants to say ‘I can do it with a woman.’ Show me that. And if you get that character right I’m gonna go ‘My hat is off to you.’" This suggests a more open-minded approach if the core qualities remain.

Cork also explained that understanding James Bond is very hard. He said "James Bond is not just the iconography. He is not just a tuxedo a martini an Aston Martin beautiful women gadgets. That’s not James Bond. That is all the stuff we surround James Bond with." He went on to say "James Bond is not defined by his license to kill. He is defined by his aspect of wanting to preserve life." This idea of saving life being more important than taking it adds a interesting split to the character. It is not that we want to see James Bond kill people. We want to see James Bond as an example of how best to live.

The true sign of success for Amazon might be if their chosen actor on screen almost blends their own identity with that of the MI6 spy. Cork said "It wasn’t a Sean Connery film or a Roger Moore film or a Pierce Brosnan or a Daniel Craig film. These were James Bond Films." He is interested in "what are you gonna do with James Bond?" This means the focus should always be on the character himself. The rumors also suggest that the next James Bond might return to more light-hearted adventures with jokes and gadgets. This would move away from the darker world of Daniel Craig's Bond. Some reports even claim the franchise will focus on a much younger version of the character. Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón is reportedly interested in directing. This would be a big name to bring into the franchise. He has won several Academy Awards for his past work.