Daniel Craig made sure that No Time To Die would be his final James Bond movie last year. After Spectre, he had had enough. The actor apparently put it in his contract that his final movie would kill his version of 007, meaning he could never make a comeback.
Since then, the Bond odds have had a plethora of British actors in the running to take his place.
Idris Elba has been an extremely popular name, but he has frequently told press he “would not” be the next spy. But now, things have changed.
According to a source, new market research has been carried out by Bond bosses over who fans and film-lovers want as the next Bond, James Bond.
Elba reportedly scored very well, making him one of the most likely stars to join the franchise in the near future.
The source explained Elba “ranked highly” among a diverse group of “movie buffs invited to participate in the research”.
This news follows a report from early this year that claimed Elba was in fact confirmed for the next Bond movie – but not as 007 himself. (Via The Sun)
Instead, Elba was reportedly being written into the next movie as a villain. While he has played antagonists before in cinema – Hobbs & Shaw, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Jungle Book, etc – the researchers wanted him to be the next hero, not the villain.
The source said: “Talks surrounding [Elba] playing the lead have started again as producers realised how popular he would be after carrying out secret market research.”
They added that researchers “did not want to see him as Bond’s nemesis” but instead wanted him as the titular hero.
READ MORE: Next James Bond: Tom Hardy hopes rejuvenated, takes on Regé-Jean Page
Elba revealed: “My mum – my poor mum – she’s like: ‘One day you’re going to get it [Bond]! Don’t mind them! Don’t mind them!'” He added: “I’m like: ‘Mum, it’s alright. I’m good. I’ve got Luther.'”
The 49-year-old was also asked on a red carpet about becoming Bond.
He replied: “No, I’m not going to be James Bond.” But when he was asked if he wanted to become the character, he did have an interesting answer.
Elba responded: “Who wouldn’t?”
Ladbrokes recently awarded Elba 12/1 on claiming the Bond role after Craig – but he has a long way to go to be the frontrunner.
At the moment, Regé-Jean Page is the leader of the pack, with an incredible 5/2 on claiming the role.
The James Bond films are available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
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