It has been the question on everyone’s mind since Daniel Craig hung up his tux five years ago: who will be the next James Bond?
asserted
who → hang → tux
Denis Villeneuve, director of the upcoming Bond film, has reportedly managed to whittle it down to a few top contenders.
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Villeneuve → manage → contenders
There are six in the running, if Page Six is to be believed – Callum Turner, Jack Lowden, Harris Dickinson, Paul Mescal, Jack Barton and Australia’s Jacob Elordi – who have already auditioned for the coveted role.
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who → be → role
Or maybe Amazon MGM, which recently bought the Bond franchise from the Broccoli family, could go in an entirely new direction and pick a woman.
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which → buy → woman
All we know for certain is that, whatever decision the producers make, it will be a massive deal.
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it → know → decision
With the final result shrouded in mystery, members of this masthead’s Culture team round up their top – and most unhinged – guesses about who could become the next Bond.
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who → shroud → guesses
Ian Fleming surely manifested Callum Turner from beyond the grave.
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Fleming → manifest → grave
He’s British, tall (but not bizarrely so), effortlessly charming and has impeccable bone structure.
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He → ’ → structure
His endearing ears then offer the je ne sais quoi – that zest that sets him apart, just as every 007 agent should.
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agent → offer → him
And bonus points if his wife, pop sensation Dua Lipa, cameos as one of the new Bond girls.
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wife → cameo → girls
Surely, everyone would love to see her walk out of the ocean in slow motion.
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her → love → motion
Elba has made it abundantly clear he won’t be the next 007, going so far as to say some audiences simply aren’t ready for a black Bond, and that we shouldn’t “try and make it woke”.
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it → make → Bond
But despite his protestations, I still think Elba would be the perfect new superspy.
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Elba → think → protestations
From Beast and Luther to the Fast & Furious franchise, he’s proved himself a worthy action actor with a penchant for grit.
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himself → prove → grit
There’s probably no room in the world he couldn’t command, particularly with that deep, gravelly voice of his.
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he → ’ → his
And even if he’s not into the idea, a black Bond could help update a franchise, born in the 1950s, otherwise at risk of going stale.
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Bond → ’ → risk
Blanchett’s piercing, unyielding gaze and her sharp wit would make for a wonderful secret agent.
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gaze → make → agent
Her intoxicatingly charming voice alone has the licence to kill.
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voice → have → licence
Though some believe she would make a fabulous master villain instead, her natural elegance and icy sophistication scream Bond.
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elegance → believe → Bond
I don’t care how tall Jacob Elordi is, he ain’t my Bond.
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he → care → ?
I enjoy him as an actor (I didn’t even hate “Wuthering Heights”), but 007 cannot be a “pretty boy”.
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007 → enjoy → Heights
His energy is too youthful, “boy band” and quasi-intellectual to be considered a solid superspy.
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energy → consider → ?
He lacks the suave charm needed to blend into a room while somehow also commanding it.
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He → lack → it
I also see his face and immediately think of Nate from Euphoria – more villain than hero.
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I → see → hero
I like my Bond rugged, not pristine.
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Bond → like → ?
Lowden showed his best failed-spy-makes-good chops in Slow Horses, and his interest in history in the BBC’s War & Peace, which launched him into global fame.
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which → show → fame
He’s a great actor and, particularly for die-hard Ian Fleming fans, fits the bill perfectly.
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He → ’ → bill
He would also bring a vulnerability not often explored in Bond – before Daniel Craig at least – so that would shake things up nicely.
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that → bring → things
Paapa Essiedu
I May Destroy You – about consent, trauma and recovery – and Falling, in which he plays a priest struggling with his vocation and alcoholism, he started his career in theatre.
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he → destroy → theatre
At 36, Essiedu has played a hip-hopping Hamlet (for the Royal Shakespeare Company), won an Olivier Award (for his role in All My Sons) and will take on Severus Snape in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter remake.
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Essiedu → play → remake
Nailing 007 would be a cinch.
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Nailing → nail → 007
Who’s your wildcard?
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wildcard → ’ → ?
Asked recently about the rumours she wishes were true about herself, Gillian Anderson told Elle she would love to take on 007.
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she → ask → 007
“I’d still have a gun … and I’d be a great collector of women,” she quipped.
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she → have → women
Having made her mark as FBI special agent Dana Scully in The X-Files, playing a spy is no stretch; she would just be swapping teams across the ditch and using a British accent.
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she → make → accent
She grew up between the US and Britain, and that gorgeously cultured voice is part of her DNA; the perennial twinkle in her eye would also prove an asset in a stunning reimagining of the role.
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twinkle → grow → role
One of few contenders for the iconic role who has shown his hand about being keen, Holland told Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast a few years ago he would be mad for it.
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he → show → it
“Ultimately, as a young British lad who loves cinema, I’d love to be James Bond.
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I → love → cinema
I’m just putting that out there,” the 30-year-old said.
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old → put → that
“I look pretty good in a suit.”
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I → look → suit
…and 44 more, not listed.
The Aporia
