Licence to fill?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/06/2016 (3750 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last week two-time Bond director Sam Mendes called it quits, feeding speculation that Daniel Craig will also make an exit. Since the 2015 release of Spectre, the Bond star has seemed reluctant to re-up. (The phrase “rather slash my wrists” was used.)

Rumours are raging about who might replace Craig, with frenzied fans and eager entertainment writers grabbing onto almost anyone who can drink a vodka martini and wear what the Brits call a dinner jacket. Since that criteria covers most actors currently treading the red carpet, this whole Next-Bond thing is getting a bit fraught.

As we wait for the new 007 to be officially named, here are some things to keep in mind:

Everyone Goes Nutty Before the New Bond is Announced:

Expect rumours, gossip and lots of talk about who could, who should and who absolutely should not fill those bench-made shoes. One antsy British bookmaker has suspended the betting on Internet dreamboat Tom Hiddleston, whom many consider a lock since his spy-worthy turn in the John Le Carre miniseries The Night Manager.

Of course, the Internet often supplies the illusion of democracy without the actuality. Many fans are talking as if Tom is a done deal just because we adore him. But as Mendes pointed out, speaking at the Hay Festival in Wales, we don’t actually get to vote: “It’s not The X-Factor, it’s not the EU referendum.”

Barbara Broccoli, longtime Bond producer, will get the final say, and according to Mendes, her choice is not going to be who we think it is.

 

Everyone Goes Nutty After the New Bond is Announced:

For me, the Bond franchise was rebooted the moment Daniel Craig shot his cuffs — not to mention his Walther P99 — in Casino Royale. His 21st-century superspy balanced bruised emotional vulnerability and bareknuckle thuggishness with elegant Italian tailoring.

But let’s flash back to 2005, when Craig’s tenure as Bond was first announced.

Nobody was happy, not Ian Fleming fans, not Bond franchise fans, not Pierce Brosnan-forever fans. Craig was too blond, too short, too “ugly and uncharismatic.” He was labelled an unsexy “Shrek-a-like.”

According to some haters, the then 37-year-old was too tough, coming off as rough and gritty in an unattractive “slept under a bridge” way. (Could he play baccarat? Did he understand evening wear? Could he even tie a bowtie?) According to an opposite but equally vocal camp, Craig wasn’t tough enough. (There were rumours he didn’t know how to drive a stick.) Several Internet fan forums started “Boycott Casino Royale” movements.

And look how that turned out. The movie shattered Bond box-office records while drawing an enraptured critical response.

 

Bond Lists Inevitably Become Battlegrounds for the Franchise’s Future:

There are loads of Top 10 lists currently circulating. Some licence-to-kill candidates embody old-school manliness, including Australian Eric Bana — masculinity being one of his country’s major exports — and American Jon Hamm.

Other choices suggest a more conflicted Bond, someone who bears the moral confusion of our murky geopolitical era. Candidates include cerebral Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch; Jamie Bell, a Billy Elliot alum who projects a nervy intensity; and Sam Riley, so far best known for playing tortured Joy Division singer Ian Curtis and Beat writer Jack Kerouac.

Meanwhile, with support building for a new equal-opportunity 007, Gillian Anderson has been drafted by the “Bond, Jane Bond” movement, with one helpful fan designing a cool promo poster. Certainly, Anderson’s steely sexiness in The Fall andHannibal suggests she’d work well in a Bond gender flip.

Let’s Just Focus on the Favourites:

Idris Elba: People have been talking up this talented English actor since the last Bond go-round, despite the predictable racist rants. He’s smart, sexy and a little dangerous.

Damian Lewis: The red-headed Homeland star would be “the first ginger Bond,” as they say in England, which would be ground-breaking in its own minor way.

Aidan Turner: Previously known as one of the “three hot dwarves” in The Hobbit franchise, Turner had to do a few more high-profile projects before movie-goers realized he wasn’t actually half as tall as Ian McKellen. His Bond bona fides were boosted when he was seen wearing black tie and handling firearms in the Agatha Christie miniseries And Then There Were None. Meanwhile, his shirtless scything scenes in Poldark promise chest hair not seen since the days of Sean Connery.

Tom Hardy: Probably the butchest frontrunner, his acting chops are irreproachable, as Locke and Legend suggest. Like Craig, Hardy would probably clean up nicely.

Tom Hiddleston: The popular 35-year-old leads the suavity sweepstakes, and his role in The Night Manager proved he can handle exotic locales, sharp-tailored tropical-weight suits, super-villains, doomed and beautiful women, martinis and mano-a-mano murder.

Hiddleston is also the current favourite, and we’ve been told the next Bond will be completely unexpected.

Or is that just espionage-inspired counterintelligence?

Who knows?

I do know we’re all going to keep talking until we get a name.

 

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca