It has been well over a year since Bond’s 24th mission, Spectre, landed like something of a damp squib at the cinemas. It was praised for its nostalgic throwbacks to James Bond films of old but criticised for its clunky formulaic misery. That’s not to say that it wasn’t hugely lucrative, but given the gritty success of Skyfall three years previous, Spectre seemed like a fall from grace, exacerbated by Daniel Craig’s apparent loss of interest.
News relating to Bond 25 is well overdue and rumors have started trickling through. In recent weeks, we’ve discovered that shooting negotiations are underway in Croatia, a Vietnam-War vintage helicopter has been acquired (not airworthy but perfectly capable of being blown to smithereens) and there has been a flurry of activity at bookmakers. While Spectre has been consigned to the shelf labelled ‘underwhelming’, another Bond story has been playing out right under our noses: who will play Bond next?
While Daniel Craig’s ‘will he, won’t he?’ saga continues, let’s review the hot picks who could take over a vacated Bond role.
1. Michael Fassbender
At the last check, Irish-German Fassbender was the bookmakers’ favorite to assume double-O status, just ahead of James Norton. He likes to keep himself busy with a mixture of action blockbusters and emotional drama, balancing forays into comic book stardom as Erik Lensherr (a.k.a. Magneto) in the X-Men movies with more traditional acting gigs in films like Steve Jobs and The Light Between Oceans.
While Assassin’s Creed flatlined in 2016, he received rave reviews for his performance in indie crime drama Trespass Against Us opposite fellow Irish legend Brendan Gleeson. He’s got the piercing eyes and rugged good looks to play Bond, but would his casting be a backward step? Moody, middle-aged, haunted gentleman of the secret service has been done to death. Many, including Fassbender himself, think it’s time for a fresh take on the iconic secret agent.
