Idris Elba Finally Snuffs Out Hope Of James Bond Casting Rumors

Idris Elba will not be taking over the James Bond project yet!

Since Daniel Craig officially walked away from the beloved franchise after the 2021 release of "No Time to Die," fans have speculated that Elba would be the next actor to take over the role. However, the 50-year-old has confirmed that he was not in the running to be the new Bond, despite his love for the action thriller project.

Since its inception in 1962, the role of James Bond has been handled by talented actors, including Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Sir Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and, most recently, Craig. With Craig's exit, fans went into celebratory mode as they expected the franchise to have its first Black lead in the form of Elba.

Unfortunately, that dream might never materialize, as the Primetime Emmy Awards nominee addressed the speculations over the weekend. During a conversation with The Guardian, the actor claimed:

"I love the Bond franchise; I'm very close to the producers. We were all kind of laughing about the rumors because they are just that."

He continued that while he could not speak for the producers, from his perspective, there has "never been any truth to any of it. It's a compliment and an honor — but it's not a truth."[sic]

Elba's name first came into the rotation when Amy Pascal — a Sony Pictures executive — detailed in a leaked 2014 email that she sensed that "Idris should be the next Bond."

Fans had gotten even more excited after the 007 lead producer, Barbara Broccoli, said that "The Wire" actor has "been part of the conversation" from the beginning during a podcast appearance last year. Craig's presence was the only thing she considered a hindrance to Elba taking over the wheel at the time. In her words:

"I think we have decided that until No Time to Die has kind of had its run and Daniel has been able to, well, we've all been able to, reap the benefits of Daniel's wonderful tenure, we're not gonna think about or talk about anybody else, actors to play the role or storylines or anything. We just wanna live in the moment, the present."

Despite the Bond challenge, Elba has continued flexing his muscles in other films, with his latest project, "Luther: The Fallen Sun," premiering on Netflix and in select cinemas last month.

The crime thriller is a film continuation of the 2010–19 British television series of the same name and stars the actor as Elba in the titular character. The father-of-two also stars alongside Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis, and Wunmi Mosaku.

Last month, The Blast reported that Elba came under fire after expressing his reservations about being called a "Black actor." The 2013 Sexiest Man of the Year for Essence stated during an interview that he had stopped describing himself with the term because it "put me in a box."

The "What's Not to Like" rapper pointed out that people's excessive obsession with race hindered real growth and aspirations amongst different races. In the "Girl With The Bat" hitmaker's words:

"We've got to grow. We've got to. Our skin is no more than that: It's just skin. If we spent half the time not talking about the differences but the similarities between us, the entire planet would have a shift in the way we deal with each other."

The actor further detailed that people were always curious about his experience with racism, which he confirmed he had gone through. However, he did not "go to my black friends in conversation and ask them to tell me about racism" whenever he was racially profiled.

"I'm not any more black because I'm in a white area, or more black because I'm in a black area. I'm Black. And that skin stays with me no matter where I go, every day, through black areas with white people in it or white areas with black people in it. I'm the same black," Elba added.

The "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" voice has since called people's hostile reactions to his candid confession "stupid."