Who will be the next James Bond? Speculation mounts after Amazon buys 007

"Who'd you pick as the next Bond?"

That was the question posed by Amazon boss Jeff Bezos this week to his 6.8 million followers on X.

It is Bezos who will now have the final say on the next 007. He asked for suggestions alongside a screenshot of the BBC News story about his company gaining creative control of the famous spy film franchise.

The choice of Daniel Craig's replacement will now be Amazon MGM Studios' biggest decision.

So let's take a look at what direction the company could take, and who is in the frame.

If the replies to Bezos's call out are anything to go by, Henry Cavill is the (online) people's choice.

The former Superman actor, who has said he "would love to play Bond", was widely regarded to have been the runner-up years ago when Craig landed the part for the first of his five 007 films, 2006's Casino Royale.

The movie's director Martin Campbell told the Express last year that Cavill's audition was "tremendous" and that "if Daniel didn't exist, Henry would have made an excellent Bond".

There was just one problem. "He just looked a little young at that time back then," added Campbell.

Longstanding Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, who announced on Thursday they were stepping down, have previously shot down the idea of a younger Bond.

"Remember, Bond's already a veteran," Wilson said in 2022. "He's had some experience. He's a person who has been through the wars, so to speak. He's probably been in the SAS or something."

Amazon may have different ideas - but at 41, Cavill could ironically now be considered too old, especially if he stays for a string of subsequent movies.

The next most frequently mentioned names in the replies to Bezos were Tom Hardy, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Idris Elba.

Taylor-Johnson, 34, known for roles in Kick-Ass and Kraven the Hunter, was at one stage rumoured to have been offered the job, but no announcement ever materialised.

Kraven bombed at the box office last year, though, which could count against him.

The bookmakers had Happy Valley actor James Norton listed as their favourite on Friday.

Speaking on the red carpet at last weekend's Bafta Awards, Norton, 39, described the speculation around him becoming Bond as "so weird and bemusing" yet "fun".

Mark O'Connell, author of Catching Bullets: Memoirs of a Bond Fan, told the BBC he thinks Amazon - and whoever they choose as the next director - will go for a younger actor than in previous times, and he hopes they buy British again.

"Tom Hardy would be great, [but] I think he's, dare I say, too old," he said of the 47-year-old Mad Max actor.

"There's a lot of guys that keep getting quoted [and] I'm like, they're too old.

"I think Amazon's going to bring it younger. I think we're looking at early 30s. Paul Mescal is a good name. Kingsley Ben-Adir, who's one of the Kens in the Barbie movie, I'd keep an eye on him - he's got a sort of [Sean] Connery swagger about him.

"Harris Dickinson, who's a British actor doing well in Babygirl with Nicole Kidman at the moment, he's very British," O'Connell added.

"I hope they stick with the British DNA and origins of the role. I think they would be foolish to move away from that. But time will tell."

Bond has been played by two non-British actors in the past - Australian George Lazenby and Irishman Pierce Brosnan. So don't rule out the likes of fellow Irish stars Mescal, Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, Aidan Turner, or Aussie Jacob Elordi.

Could Amazon break the mould and go for the first American Bond? If so, Austin Butler has been mooted.

Other Brits who have been shaken but not stirred into the mix include Challengers star Josh O'Connor, 34, and Babylon's Stuart Martin, 39, as well as White Lotus actor Theo James, who is 40.

Callum Turner, Richard Madden, Will Poulter and Nicholas Hoult have also been suggested, among others.

Since Bond - originally the creation of author Ian Fleming - hit the big screen in 1962, first played by Scotsman Sean Connery, his hair and eye colour have changed, not to mention his accent.

But so far, the character's skin colour and gender have remained fixed.

That is apart from when Lashana Lynch briefly took over the 007 title from Craig's Bond in No Time to Die.

"James Bond can be of any colour, but he is male," Broccoli said in 2020.

"I'm not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that."

She added: "He should be British, so British can be any [ethnicity]."

Bridgerton actor Rege-Jean Page has been mooted alongside Ben-Adir as a possible first non-white Bond, as have Lucien Laviscount, Paapa Essiedu, Damson Idris, Riz Ahmed and Aaron Pierre.

If Bezos does break Broccoli's rule and go for a woman, Cynthia Erivo would be a popular choice.

However, Idris Elba, 52, the star of The Wire and Luther, said in 2023 that the racist backlash to the prospect of him being Bond "made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting".

It's not just the lead role that the Amazon casting department will have to think about.

"In terms of what they could do with the women, I would love to see more interesting and nuanced female characters," said Monica Germanà, author of Bond Girls: Body, Fashion and Gender.

"There is a growing female fandom, so we want more interesting female characters teasing Bond's masculine ego."

Then there are the villains, who are the characters with their "pulse on the real world", Germanà said.

"They represent the anxieties we have about the world. So it'd be interesting what Amazon does with that. Will the next villain be, I don't know, will it be AI? Will it be something to do with climate change? Will it be far-right politics that they tap into?"

Debating the next James Bond is "a national and international obsession", BBC Radio 1 film critic Ali Plumb told BBC Breakfast.

"I want to have an answer for you. I want to say names like Harris Dickinson or Leo Woodall and say, yes, it's going to be them. But it's all up in the air."

Chris Hewitt of Empire magazine and podcast told BBC Radio 5 Live that while he "admired what Craig has achieved", he wants the new management "to rediscover the fun of Bond".

Bond fan and author Ajay Chowdhury added: "I think Bond ultimately is fantasy and it's fun and I think that entertainment value could be brought back."

Bond bosses have often alternated between serious and lighter-hearted lead actors, he said.

"They always tend to reboot. You have a serious Bond [like Timothy] Dalton followed by a lighter Bond, Brosnan. Serious, Craig - and I think it's time to do that again."

Chowdhury thinks the new Bond will be "an established British actor" with what he calls "the Goldilocks amount of fame" - not too hot, not too cold.

"They'll have done TV and theatre across the Atlantic, but they won't be stars," he offers.

"They'll have just the right amount of fame and they'll be young enough to do three or four [films].

"Who is it? We have no idea!"