Next Bond odds slashed on star gaining on Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Henry Cavill

Who will be the next James Bond is one of the biggest questions in popular culture at the moment.

It’s been almost two years since Daniel Craig ended his tenure in the role and for the first time since 2005 auditions to be the new 007 will be taking place.

As it stands Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Henry Cavill are the hot favourites at the bookies to bag the role.

The Kraven the Hunter star leads the way after rumours that he impressed Barbara Broccoli, while Cavill was runner-up to Craig for Casino Royale.

Yet the two frontrunners are facing new competition as odds are slashed on a fellow big star.

BoyleSports have announced today that Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy’s odds of being the next Bond have been slashed from 14/1 to 5/1 over the weekend.

The likely Best Actor Oscar nominee may be almost 50 but having been directed by Christopher Nolan – a favourite to helm the Bond reboot – means there’s a lot of support for the actor at the bookies.

Lawrence Lyons, spokesperson for BoyleSports said: “There’s been an explosion of interest in Cillian Murphy becoming the next James Bond following his portrayal as J Robert Oppenheimer. This is one gamble we’re happy to see as it would be fantastic to see another Irish man step into the famous spy’s shoes!”

Ahead of Murphy’s 5/1 are Aaron Taylor-Johnson on 9/4, Henry Cavill on 5/2, Paapa Essiedu on 3/1 and James Norton on 7/2.

And just behind the Oppeheimer star are Regé-Jean Page on 11/2, Tom Hardy on 9/1, Richard Madden on 10/1 and Jack Lowden on 14/1.

Given there’s a joint Hollywood actors and writers strike on, it could be quite a while before the next Bond is announced.