Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond has gone on for way longer than he anticipated. Back in 2005, he didn’t even want the role, having to be talked into it by his acting friends. More recently, he’s reportedly been desperate to quit, with Spectre once planned as his swansong. Then MGM drove a metaphorical dump truck of money to his house to convince him to sign on for one more outing as 007. But despite having been in the can for some time, the world is yet to see No Time to Die, with COVID-19 delaying its release by a full year.
Even so, there’s a lot of discussion as to who’ll be filling his immaculately tailored shoes and now, one candidate has popped up as a frontrunner and has been raising eyebrows: former One Direction member and Dunkirk star Harry Styles. The 26-year-old has been hinting at a renewed focus on acting over music for some time and a much younger 007 would certainly mark a new phase in the James Bond mythos.
Styles was asked directly about the rumors in a recent interview and gave a suspiciously vague answer, saying the following:
“I grew up watching those. You know, I loved him when I was a kid. So I think it’s kind of everyone’s dream a little bit, right?”
Obviously, this is still an incredibly long shot and I’m sure the James Bond fanbase would hit the roof if a former boy band member in his 20s took the role. But then again, they hated Craig at first, too, so perhaps they’d get used to him?
Plus, for every grumpy, gammon-faced middle age man they lose, I’m sure they’d gain three excited young fans. So, if this rumor has you spitting feathers, give it time to settle in and maybe, just maybe, you’ll realize that it might not be the worst idea in the world.