Daniel Craig might have hung his gloves on the James Bond role, but it takes more than just death to retire the British MI6 secret agent. 007 has graced our screens for over six decades now, and the search for the next actor to don the prestigious role has seemingly come down to three actors, with one of them being a clear favorite.
The former Man of Steel Henry Cavill has been the long-running frontrunner to take on the Bond role ever since Craig departed, but Happy Valley’s star James Norton and Bullet Train’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson have also appeared on the list of potential replacements more than once. In fact, the latter has been rumored to be in pole position to get the iconic role on more than one occasion.
However, Taylor-Johnson has remained tight-lipped on the potential career-changing rumors, as evidenced by his interview with Esquire (which was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike).
What comes from that [Kraven] could generate many different conversations.
As I’ve already told you, I have to go by the beat of my own drum. It’s my own path, what feels intuitive to me. I’ve never made a decision based on other people’s perspectives, or their judgments, or their expectations. You lose your f*cking mind if you do that. Your sense of worth and soul is gone. You need to understand what is integral to you and what feels right, and you’ve got to stay on track with what’s present in front of you. Kraven is what’s in front of me.
Several candidates have been tossed into the mix to be the next James Bond, but none have stood out as prominently as Cavill and Taylor-Johnson. Interestingly, the 33-year-old British actor is well aware of the considerable presence Cavill carries. When questioned in the same interview about whether he should consider Cavill as the next Bond, he simply replied, “I mean, if you’re a betting man…”
Regardless, only a select few actors are fortunate enough to even be in the running for such a role. Similar to Taylor-Johnson’s current situation, Craig also hesitated before taking on the Bond role. When it was revealed that he would succeed Pierce Brosnan, certain fans expressed their discontent due to his shorter stature and blonde hair.
The choice of casting was made more contentious with rumors circulating that actors like Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Henry Cavill, and favorite Clive Owen (though he later revealed that he was never offered the role) were also being considered for the part.
Now that Cavill is free from the obligations of Netflix’s fantasy series The Witcher, there’s a good chance that his odds of being the next Bond have dramatically improved. At 40 years old, Cavill fits the bill of James Bond, a character who’s supposed to be a veteran agent experienced in spycraft, something Michael Gregg Wilson, the producer of several Bond films, has stated before.
Taylor-Johnson had been slated for promotional tours in anticipation of the upcoming Sony film Kraven the Hunter, but due to the ongoing actors’ strike, the film’s entire cast is currently on the picket lines. Nonetheless, Kraven the Hunter is still scheduled to release on August 30.
