Let’s indulge these rumors about the next James Bond
Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have been on the hunt for the next 007 for almost two years now
Aux News James Bond
It seems like the next James Bond might be Taylor-Johnson… Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Okay, so the British actor’s name doesn’t quite roll off the tongue in the same way as his potential undercover counterpart’s, but that doesn’t matter. He can drink a martini! He looks great in a suit! Those are, like, the only two requirements for the job.
This update does come from British tabloid The Sun, so it’s best to take it with a healthy dose of skepticism. Still, Taylor-Johnson’s name has been tossed around for the role for quite a while now, and he does fit the bill at least in terms of past Bonds. Plus, he’s a “thirty-something” (33, to be exact) so he fulfills producer Michael G. Wilson’s only real stated criteria thus far. According to The Sun’s sources, “Bond is Aaron’s job, should he wish to accept it. The formal offer is on the table and they are waiting to hear back” but expect him to sign in the coming days.
Should the Bullet Train actor choose to accept, he’ll be the eighth actor to don the suit since the franchise began in 1962, and the first new Bond since Daniel Craig took over almost two decades ago. He’ll also be around for a while. While the future of the franchise is still a little blurry, producer Barbara did previously express that whoever takes on the role will be expected to stick around for at least a decade.
This decision may be disappointing to some fans who were hoping to see more diversity in the role, which has until now only been played by white men. Idris Elba was long-rumored to be a front-runner, as was Lashana Lynch, who already starred as MI6 agent Nomi in No Time To Die. Elba, however, expressed that the potential job had been tainted for him on the SmartLess podcast in 2021 (via MovieWeb). “It was a huge compliment that every corner of the world—except for some corners, which we will not talk about—were really happy about the idea that I could be considered. Those that weren’t happy about the idea made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting, because it became about race. It became about nonsense, and I got the brunt of it,” he said. Hopefully, the world will look a little different when it’s time to find the next new 007 a decade from now.
90 Comments
Bet you didn’t see that coming.
I wasn’t a huge fan of this choice when it was first rumored a year or so ago but after seeing Bullet Train, I can totally buy it.
Yeah, Bullet Train was the first time that this guy made any kind of impression on me.
He was definitely good in that, but I still feel 33 (and a pretty 33 at that) is too young for this role. Bond is supposed to feel more lived-in; it adds to his suave, debonaire persona.
he could do a slightly more reckless, psychotic Bond very well i think
This seems like a safe, non-controversial choice. I don’t hate it, but it’s more of a shrug. If you’re open to playing around with the mythos (i.e. what they did in No Time to Die), why not go in a totally new direction? I have posted a couple of times as being in favor of Dev Patel who, coincidentally, has an action movie coming out soon.Regardless of who they go with, I am curious how they handle the next iteration of Bond. My guess is that they treat all of the actors as self-contained universes. Yeah, Judi Dench shows up as M for Brosnan and Craig, but I don’t think anyone except the craziest of people thought that was a problem. I would like to see how they treat Bond, having such deep ties to the Cold War and in later versions being seen as a relic of it, being played by someone who was 2 when the Berlin Wall fell, i.e. someone who missed most of the Cold War.
Make it a period piece. Should’ve done that years ago
I’d be down with a period piece.
Well now they can set it when they shoulda started!
YES! the movies should be set in the timeframe of the books.
After almost every movie pushing the DEI agenda bombed last year, of course they’re playing it safe. This is the first of many movies we’ll see returning to traditionalism. Get used to it.
OOOOH. Edgy.
Hey now, if half-assed “nihilists” actually believed in anything, they’d be doing literally anything of worth aside from trolling from reactions from total strangers.
You’re a fucking moron.
Tell me you’re a mental midget with negative empathy in three sentences.There are other people on this planet and in this country who aren’t white men.Get used to it.Best,-a “woke” Alpha who is sorry about your daddy and your micropenis
Body shaming is bad.
Here, an exception is made.
You’re right. Better to go with “dude’s a weird troll trying to do a psy-op culture war in the comments of a c-list blog.”
Patel would be a great choice
Swag Messiah’s a known troll & all-around piece of shit. Please dismiss.
He may in fact be an asshole troll but I’m not sure he’s incorrect either. Wouldn’t surprise me if Hollywood takes the wrong message from supposedly “woke” movies not doing well over the past year, and goes “okay we’ll cast well known white guys again.”
Done and done!
I had Dev Petal and Sacha Dewan on my wish list.
Gonna be really hard for me to let go of ol’ Danny C for personal reasons, but this dude will do a fine job.
Would the “personal reasons” be the scene of him stepping out of the ocean in tiny swim trunks?Because that’s my personal reason.
We’ll still have Benoit Blanc, at least.
I mean uhhhhhhhhhhh
Don’t be ashamed.
A win for traditionailism! Great to finally see DEI based casting finally fading away.
Hey you should should really try to bitch about DEI in every comment you make it’s doing wonders for you.
Lil’ man’s doing a culture war, gobbless ‘im!
Oh look, it’s micropenis again. Sorry about your daddy.
Dude, straight white male actors have been starring in massive blockbusters and making millions of dollars this whole time. You’re living in an obsessive, sick fantasy world. The biggest names in Hollywood, some of the hightest-paid, most award-winning actors are good old whiteboys like Tom Cruise, DiCaprio, Gosling, Ben Affleck, Chris Pratt, McConaughey, the list goes on and on. That’s not good enough for you? You people are so whiny. You’re crying about nothing.
LMAO you’re the one sounds like he’s crying about the “good old white boys.” Sorry you lost this one.
Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan, Craig. That’s six. Anyway, I just want Bond to be fun again.Bond should no longer apologize for Connery in 1965, Churchill in 1945 and Queen Victoria in 1885. Bond women can be capable, independent, consenting and most importantly, alive at the end and the movie can still be fun.
My choice was Hiddleston, but this guy seems Ok.
The Night Manager was great
he’s 5’9″ lol
he’ll be the eighth actor to don the suit since the franchise began in 19628th if you include Barry Nelson (or maybe Peter Sellars?) but the 7th in the EON franchise.
If you include the 1967 Casino Royale spoof, every one of the British Intelligence agents portrayed in the film was code-named James Bond, including Joanna Pettet, with David Niven as the actual James Bond.
The only good thing about Royale 67 is The Look of Love by Dusty Springfield. NOTHING ELSE IS WORTHWHILE.
And don’t forget Rowan Atkinson in that James Bond red nose day short
He already played John Lennon, he can take the heat.
::reads comments:: This is the first of many movies we’ll see returning to traditionalism. Lol, “traditionalism.” JFC, more nerds could stand to go outside. I just came from there! It’s nice!Then again, most of the weird chuds posting this shit don’t actually believe it, or only kinda believe it. They’re more into generating reactions from random strangers, which *totally* isn’t an incredibly fucking pathetic inversion of the same shit they “hate” the “other side” for.Ah, well. Never a bad time:
I like that this particular troll was saying this about a (still-hypothetical) movie in which Bond will be played, finally in keeping with tradition, by a white guy.
Said it before, and I’ll say it as often as I can: I miss when trolls were genuinely funny or clever. Now it’s all low energy “lol i said something stupid and it maed u mad lulz” or “::desperately tries to stalk random stranger IRL::.”Sad!
Say what one will about Tomato; at least he was creative.
What’s with all of the periods? Is this a new grammatical ‘trend’?
more nerds could stand to go outside. I just came from there! It’s nice!
Fake news. I just came from there. It’s mad windy and pretty cold. Nothing about it would be considered nice.
Not gonna lie, but in this timeline, some part of me looks for those expected kind of replies and you just know they’ll be there, but I think it’s because regardless if they’re in support or opposition, they both come off as being triggered enough to give a tantrum like response.Don’t know why, but I get an odd feeling of entertainment from it.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson seems like a fine choice. As for Elba, I’ve always felt the main issue holding him back was his age. That said, my ideal scenario for the next Bond movie is basically the plot of Men in Black or Kingsman, with Elba playing 001 who is ready for retirement and his last job is to train the new 007. That way we at least get Elba in a Bond film.
“It seems like the next James Bond might be Taylor-Johnson… Aaron Taylor-Johnson”
First time an AVC writer genuinely made me laugh in awhile, kudos.
I applaud Elba’s reluctance to play a glamorized psychopath.
I was speed reading the headlines today and thought, Anya Taylor-Joy would have been a fun casting for 007 (because the name is close).
Mark my words. She will be a Bond girl in the future.
Someone on my Facebook feed posted that Anya Taylor-Joy was the next bond, and until I saw this article and realized he was joking I was incredibly intrigued.
Strong possibility she would do a better job.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas is back, baby!
Connery, serious Bond Moore, silly BondDalton, serious BondBrosnan, silly BondCraig, serious BondWe are due for a silly Bond for a while now.
What about Lazenby, though?
one shot one movie intentionally left him off the list.
Lazenby was the Action Man Bond, built by Mattel.
I was thinking, after how intense the Craig Bond canon was, we were due for a suave-but-not-camp Bond. Less OTT action, more intrigue.
We definitely need a palate cleansing after the charmless Daniel Craig.
As a life-long Bond fan, it’s not really Bond himself that appeals to me. It’s everything else about the world. The gadgets, the extravagance, the whackadoo villains and their plots and whackadoo-er henchpeople. Plus the music. And the stunts — REAL stunts (that’s addressed to you, Die Another Day). Bond the man is just kind of a figurehead for the rest of it.
I’m usually pretty forgiving of CGI effects, but I still can’t believe someone saw that windsurfing Bond and thought, “Ah, yes, good, good; print it.” I hope that was at least a last minute Oh-shit-we-have-to-lock-it-in-to-hit-our-release-date decision.
I’m just in it for the ornithology.
SEE, PEOPLE? Now that’s lore.
I don’t know how old you are, but as another life-long Bond fan for whom Connery was the first Bond i really need my Bond to be iconically handsome. Craig didn’t cut it and this guy with his boyish face is not gonna cut it either.
He looks like the guy who brings an acoustic guitar to your house party, and can’t actually play for shit.
That’s fair (I’m 50 btw). I liked Craig, I just wish his films had had more humor. I think my favorite of the movies is GoldenEye. Excellent blend of action, humor, story, and suspense. Great song, too.The more I think about it, I’m realizing that what I care about most about the casting is that it doesn’t detract from the rest of it. When it comes to new Bond movies, I’m far more invested in who the villain is and even who does the theme song.
Eon probably won’t do it, due to the costs involved, but for me it’s time to strip Bond back down to the basics and set the films back during the 1950’s cold war era the original novels take place in.
I do like that idea. I think Tarantino once talked about doing that if they gave him a shot.Besides, today’s geopolitical situation is way too fucked up.
Theo James is putting together a real nice audition reel with The Gentlemen on Netflix.
He’s sooooo bland, though. They say he was in the 2014 Godzilla movie — but I don’t remember a single frame where he actually stood out or made an impact. I’m pretty sure I just imagined his name in the credits.
Check out bullet train. He’s fantastic in it.
I did enjoy that movie a hell of a lot. Wouldn’t mind a rewatch, actually…
Of the 2 leads in Kick-Ass, he would make the second best Bond.
Now I’m trying to picture McLovin as Bond.
This License to Kill doesn’t even have a first name, it just says “Bond”
Sooooo, sooooo, sooooo bland.
Yeah he was quite dull in Godzilla.
Remember how the sun kept “leaking” who the new doctor who would be, for decades, and never once got it right? I feel the same applies here
Who let the excrement-porn loving white supremacist out of the greys?
I always thought a younger Gabriel Macht would have been perfect for the Bond role, but yeah, probably too old now.Besides, he’s got those Suits T-Mobile commercials to appear in.
Tom Hiddleston, Regé-Jean Page, Dev Patel, and Henry Golding are all much more interesting choices.
In terms of looks. i can see Charles Melton pulling it off but he’s not British.
Oh, God please no!
Just make Bond fun again!
He was great in Tenent, although I expected RPatz to come out of that the clear Bond favourite.I like him as an actor, and he ticks some of the boxes people are after.
Bond movies have always tended to embrace the current trends as opposed to defining them, so I expect the new Bond to be John Wick-esque.