Tom Hanks backs British fan-favourite for Next James Bond

Tom Hanks has just released his debut novel as a way of finding “release from the never-ending pressure” of making feature films.

Within the book, he made a fleeting reference to James Bond, and in a new interview, he pointed out who he believes would be the best actor to replace Daniel Craig as 007 after No Time To Die.

Craig stopped taking his martinis shaken, not stirred, in 2021 after five films and 15 years. And the continuing debate has been over who will replace him.

While the Bond odds have a massive amount of names in the ever-changing list, the Toy Story star believes the best option for James Bond is none other than Idris Elba.

Hanks told the BBC: “Understand this. James Bond has a licence to kill. I would issue that licence to Idris Elba just based on the work that I’ve seen him do.”

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Elba has been a favourite in the Bond odds for years, and still has an incredible set of odds from Ladbrokes.

At the time of writing, the leading bookmakers have given Elba a powerful 14/1 on becoming the next Bond, James Bond.

Only a few major names are ahead of him, including Aaron Taylor-Johnson – the current frontrunner – with 5/2. He is joined by James Norton who also has a staggering 5/2.

However likely Elba’s odds on becoming James Bond are, he has previously confirmed he is not that bothered about grabbing the role.

Speaking during the online show, The Shop: Uninterrupted, Elba confessed: “I don’t think that, you know, playing Bond will satisfy some of my personal goals.”

He also told The Guardian earlier this year that any rumours of his casting were “not true”.

Elba explained: “I love the Bond franchise, I’m very close to the producers. We were all kind of laughing about the rumours because they are just that.”

He went on to say the rumours that he had taken the role came “nowhere close to happening” before declining to say if there were any other discussions.

“I can’t speak for them,” he said of the Bond bosses. “But from my perspective, there’s never been any sort of truth to any of it.”