As much as we loved his run as 007, Daniel Craig's stint as James Bond is over. Having previously stated that he would rather harm himself than return to the tux, it didn't take long for Craig to jump back in the Aston Martin but No Time To Die – formerly known as Bond 25 – actually was Daniel Craig’s final film in the franchise.
The man confirmed it in our April 2020 cover story, shushing recurring rumours that he is set to suit up again in the future. “I’m OK [with quitting Bond for good],” he said. “I don’t think I would have been if I’d done the last film and that had been it. But this, I’m like, go. Let’s get on with it. I’m fine.’”
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This week producer Barbara Broccoli confirmed Team Bond intend to spend the next two years ‘reinventing’ the character, which makes the question of “Who's next?” even more important.
From the longest standing of candidate of them all, Idris Elba, reportedly racing back up the bookies' favourites list in 2022 after initial talks with producers about playing a baddie, to newbies on the list like freshly-minted Serious Actor Harry Styles, there are a whole host of candidates who we could soon see sipping on a freshly shaken martini. Much like predicting the winner of the Grand National, there can only be one victor – be they the star of a former primetime BBC drama, a man who's more familiar with superheroic spandex, or, erm, Tom Cruise.
It’s worth noting that Craig was not everyone’s first choice for Bond back in 2005. Fans protested (they didn’t like that he was blond…) and he even tried to talk producer Barbara Broccoli out of the decision. “I remember saying to them early on, ‘I can’t do a Sean Connery impression. I can’t be Pierce,’” Craig told us. 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.
