It’s been made abundantly clear that a woman will never be cast as James Bond, but that doesn’t mean producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson won’t be seeking an entirely different type of 007 to what we’ve seen over the course of the last 60 years.
With Amazon having purchased MGM and Daniel Craig blowing himself up at the end of No Time to Die to draw the most definitive line imaginable under his tenure as the legendary secret agent, the slate is cleaner than it’s been for a long time, with the Eon production chiefs admitting previously that the franchise was facing a critical juncture.
Key to all of that is casting, then, and it sounds as though the search will be narrowed down to actors much younger than anticipated. Sure, it’s been heavily rumored that the next incumbent of the tux would be in their 30s, but given that Broccoli and Wilson revealed to Variety that they’re seeking someone to assume the mantle for at least a decade, a lot of potential front-runners have instantly been ruled out – including Idris Elba.
“We love Idris. The thing is, it’s going to be a couple of years off. And when we cast Bond, it’s a 10-, 12-year commitment. So he’s probably thinking, ‘Do I really want that thing?’ Not everybody wants to do that. It was hard enough getting [Daniel Craig to do it]… It’s an evolution, Bond is evolving just as men are evolving. I don’t know who’s evolving at a faster pace.”
While there’s going to be plenty of longtime Bond fans who shudder at the thought of MI6’s finest being played by a “modern man”, Bond has always been forced to move and adapt with the times in order to stay relevant. The future is more unclear than it’s been for two decades, which is every bit as challenging as it is exciting.