Daniel Craig’s time as James Bond is over and producer Barbara Broccoli has confirmed a ‘reinvention’ is underway. So who’s next to step into 007’s shoes?
As much as we loved his run as 007, Daniel Craig’s stint as James Bond is long over. But the question looms: Who will be the next James Bond?
One suspects that even if you tied one of the Bond producers down to a metal table and threatened them with a laser, they’d still keep stuhm, such has been their pact of silence over the super-secret Bond casting process over the years. But a few major candidates have emerged.
Idris Elba was long thought to be at the top of the deck, but he has taken himself out of the race multiple times now. Fresh-faced newbies like Theo James, Callum Turner and Damson Idris have all stirred interest. (Maybe they’d prefer it shaken.)
But if there’s one guy with his nose out in front currently, it’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with tabloid rumours pinning him to a new career in double-O espionage for a couple of years now. Last year, The Sun reported that he had tested for the role for the Bond behind closed doors, meanwhile this month they’ve reported that he’s been formally offered the role (although take that with enough salt to rim a margarita glass).
Whatever the case, Taylor-Johnson might not be your first pick to handle the Walther PPK, but it’s worth noting that Craig wasn’t everyone’s first choice for Bond back in 2005, either. Fans protested (they didn’t like that he was blond…) and he even tried to talk producer Barbara Broccoli out of the decision. So, keep in mind that even the unlikeliest of picks below could be in with a shot.
Here we judge who could and should become the next James Bond.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Already known for playing kick-ass superheroes, Bond isn’t a huge leap for Taylor-Johnson.
Why: Taylor-Johnson has it all. The actor, no stranger to stunts, has proven himself as an action star in the making through roles in the Kick-Ass movies, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Godzilla, Tenet and Bullet Train. On top of this, he’s good – really good – at emotional range, and his breakthrough role as a young John Lennon in Nowhere Boy was a testament to these skills. The Bond producers reportedly agree too.
The 33-year-old became a frontrunner after The Sun reported that he went for a secret screen test with producers including Barbara Broccoli at Pinewood studios, and seriously impressed them. “Aaron went for a screen test to be the next Bond in September and producers and Barbara loved him. He is now one of the frontrunners,” the source said. Then, in March 2024, a report from The Sun — which was cited… pretty much everywhere online, including the BBC — claimed that he had been formally offered the role.
Why not: At 33, Taylor-Johnson might be a tad too young for the weathered, cynical interpretations of Bond, but then again, Bond producer Michael G. Wilson revealed in October 2022 that the team were gravitating towards “a thirty-something”. Aside from that, there really aren’t very many downsides to Taylor-Johnson and it looks like the Bond team may feel similarly.
Josh O’Connor
Give the people the little freak Bond that they truly want
Why: This is how Ian Fleming describes James Bond in the books: 6ft, blue-grey eyes, short black hair, slim build, a “cruel” mouth… sorry but, doesn’t that sound like Josh O’Connor to you? Even down to the mouth? (There are whole fan-cams dedicated to his exceptional, twisted smirk in Challengers). He’s also 33, which, like Taylor-Johnson, would be ideal if the producers did indeed plump for a “thirty-something” 007. On top of that, fresh off his roles in Challengers and La Chimera, he’s already man of the moment. It’s no great stretch to imagine him as man of the… most famous movie franchise in the world. After all, Broccoli confirmed a “reinvention” is on the way and O’Connor would certainly tick that box. Give the people the little freak Bond that they truly want…
Why not: So far, O’Connor’s filmography doesn’t exactly scream “action adventure franchise”. The softly-spoken British actor appears much more enamoured with gritty, complicated, slightly left-field roles about being a washed-up tennis champ, a Yorkshire sheep farmer and a criminal archaeologist. O’Connor himself also doesn’t seem particularly sold on the idea, either. In a recent interview on IGV Presents during Challengers promo, an interviewer told him that he could see him as Bond. “Could you?!” O’Connor responded, looking a little incredulous and unconvinced, before laughing off the idea. “I’m not sure I could!”
Theo James
He’s like if you could make James Bond on The Sims.
Why: Theo James’s lead role in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, the 2019 film’s universe-expanding series on Netflix, is basically an eight-episode audition for Bond. In it, he plays a charming, aristocratic posho with a secret set of army skills that make it so he can nut bad guys in the face or jump shotgun in a getaway car without breaking much of a sweat. He also, not for nothing, looks like if you could make a generic idea of James Bond on the Sims. He recently starred as a less genteel character in The White Lotus, as your classic finance bro douchebag, but he’s been toiling away at this business for a long time. He’s fronted action franchises and played romantic leads, but crucially he’s never been pigeon-holed by any one character from his roster and that’s good if you’re going to sign on to the most defining role of all time.
Why not: Well, he just doesn’t seem that keen on it. Of course, this may be classic actor humility, an ‘aww shucks’ attempt at being flattered by the conversation, but speaking to SirusXM, he said “I love some of the Sean Connery movies, but I think they need to do something else. Do you know what I mean? They need to really go with a reinvention of it in a different way and that wouldn’t be me.” Bond has often wrestled with its very consistent and, let’s face it, white history. Daniel Craig’s run fleshed out the interiority of the character in new ways, but it’s long been felt the next iteration should bring some much-needed diversity to the franchise.
Cillian Murphy
The name’s winner, Oscar winner.
Why: Undeniably, Cillian Murphy is the man of the moment. Somewhere right now, a cigar-chomping exec with big gold rings on his fingers is rubbing his hands together to figure out where to capitalise on the newly minted Oscar winner next. And what’s bigger than winning an Oscar? Playing James Bond. Call it recency bias or our cultural sickness of never being able to have an original thought anymore, but wouldn’t he look good in a slick tux? He’s already worn so many of them on the awards trail. Of course, anyone who’s seen Murphy in action knows he’s a chameleon of the screen, able to oscillate between sociopathic villains and sensitive softies with ease. Seems like a good trait to have for 007, a man inherently burdened by the moral quagmire of his own propensity for violence.
