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 colleagues. Reports say that he’s been eager to quit for years, with Spectre once intended to be his swansong, but then MGM drove a metaphorical dump truck of money to his house to convince him to sign on for one more outing as 007. Despite having been in the can for some time, though, the world has yet to see No Time to Die as COVID-19 delayed its release until fall 2021.
In the meantime, gossip is building as to who’s going to succeed Craig. Many names are being mentioned, with Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page the current favorite and Tom Hardy and James Norton also in competition. But one person who’s been rumored for years is Idris Elba. He was recently asked if it could actually happen and said:
“I know the rumours about Bond have always chased me and to a… Listen, my mum, my poor mum, she’s like ‘One day you’re going to get it! Don’t mind them! Don’t mind them!’ I’m like ‘Oh [laughs] mum, it’s alright man, I’m good, I’ve got Luther!’”
Elba would have made a fantastic Bond, but sadly I think the opportunity has passed. The simple reason is that at 48, he’s probably now too old to start playing 007, as he’d be 50 by the time production on his first entry of many would start. And as we’ve just come off a series of movies focusing on Craig’s Bond’s age, my bet is that the new version will be younger to differentiate him from what came before and tell different kinds of stories.
But Elba isn’t going anywhere. As he alludes to, he’s currently developing a movie of his extremely fun detective show Luther. Beyond that, he’s starring as Bloodsport in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad this summer. And as for the next James Bond? MGM have likely had someone locked in for a while and are waiting until No Time To Die hits theaters on October 8th, 2021 to unveil him (or her!). Watch this space.