Fans Want These Stars to Take Over As The Next James Bond

After five blockbuster movies and 15 years of dedication, Daniel Craig's run as James Bond has finally come to a close. Craig was the seventh actor to portray James Bond, the smooth and handsome MI6 agent that has become somewhat of a British film treasure, and he excelled at the role.

However, with Craig's exit from the legendary franchise, the question on everybody's lips is who will be the next James Bond? It is not an easy decision, and it has caused lots of rumors to fly around about who could be in the running for the job.

The rumors were made even worse by the silence of Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, who are the custodians of the James Bond franchise. When asked about who they could be considered earlier this year, they said they had no one in mind yet.

So, with the lack of answers, many fans took it upon themselves to decide which British actors should carry the mantle and be as good as Craig and all the previous Bond actors. There were a lot of options, but here are the four that came highly recommended for the role.

The James Bond character has historically been a white actor. However, with the change that is going all over the world and the acceptance of new things, many fans have clamored for this change to come to the Bond movie and Elba, a black actor, to be cast as Bond.

He has also been a name regularly associated with the idea of a new Bond, ever since the Sony email hack in 2014 revealed a mail sent by Chairman Amy Pascal that read, "Idris should be the next Bond." He also fueled the rumors with a tweet in 2018 that said, "My name's Elba, Idris Elba," and was forced to explain later to The Hollywood Reporter in 2019 that he "took the piss a little" that the tweet was a joke.

He also opened up to Vanity Fair in 2019 about the pressure on Broccoli and Wilson to cast a black actor and how he was concerned about the prospect of being offered the role. He explained that with how highly coveted and loved the Bond character is, he wouldn't want the color of his skin to be a deciding factor on whether he was considered for the role.

It would be a dream come true for many of his fans if the dreamy actor became the next James Bond.

Rege-Jean Page broke into the film industry with his amazing performance in Netflix's "Bridgerton."

His role as Duke Simon Basset earned millions of fans who didn't take long to decide that the British heartthrob would be the perfect James Bond.

However, Page dashed millions of fans' hopes when he insisted during his appearance on The Tonight Show that anything about him and the Bond role are just rumors.

He said, "I think there might be an element of cultural translation to be done here. If you're a Brit, and you do something of any kind of renown that people regard well, then people start saying the 'B' word. It's like a merit badge. You get the 'B' word merit badge. I'm very, very glad to have the badge. I'm glad to be in such a wonderful company of people who have the badge. But it's a badge."

When "Peaky Blinders'" Netflix show became a global hit, many eyes turned to the man behind the infamous Tommy Shelby, Cillian Murphy. With "Peaky Blinders'" gritty and gangster nature, it was only a matter of time before the Bond rumors came for him.

According to Harry Aitkenhead, a worker at betting site Coral, there has recently been a lot of bets that Murphy would land the role as the new James Bond.

He told Daily Mirror that from an analysis of the stakes, Murphy is the leading candidate.

In 2019, Murphy had an interview with GQ where he said, "It seems to be a way of generating business for bookies. So someone who happens to be in a TV show and wears a tux occasionally in a TV show… But having said all of that, it's incredibly flattering to be in that conversation."

Tom Hardy stirred the pot himself when he posted the screenshot of a news story that said he would be Craig's replacement on his Instagram. It was captioned with "In my tux and on the runway Gtg."

The post went viral, and it quickly became a matter of discussion until fans realized it was an April Fools joke.

However, this was just a temporary roadblock, as many fans have since expressed that they think he would be a perfect Bond.

It's also not just fans who think Hardy can do the job. Pierce Brosnan, a former Bond actor, agreed with Hardy's fans when he said, "I think Tom Hardy could be a good Bond." "I'd be happy to see him do it. You need an actor who can put a bit of wiggle into it—that's what makes Bond."