Theories about which actor will take over the role of James Bond have proliferated from the moment Daniel Craig hung up the Omega and the Walther with 2021’s No Time to Die. (Technically, the speculation’s been going on even longer—at least since the early 2010s, when it seemed like Craig might step down sooner than he ultimately did.)
Today we have at least a little bit of information regarding what to expect from the next Bond flick—Denis Villeneuve in the director’s chair, a 2028 release date. Other than that, there’s very little out there in terms of concrete intel. Jacob Elordi is the latest rumored front-runner for the role of 007, joining a long list that includes Callum Turner and Aaron Taylor-Johnson—but at this point, the only rumor we’re inclined to believe is the one from late February that says a new Bond has not been chosen because the script for Bond 26 isn’t done.
The speculation will nonetheless continue, so instead of begging for it to stop, I’m going to simply ask, as a James Bond die-hard, that we reframe the conversation. The Bond films aren’t just about the man in the suit, after all. They’re about exotic locales, great menswear, and incredible cars. They’re also about incredible co-stars. The best Bond movies live and die by their villains. The good ones rarely have lousy villains, and vice versa (all love and respect to Christopher Lee’s Scaramanga, the rare exception to this rule.) So instead of fixating on who the next James Bond will be, let’s talk about who might play the person trying to kill him.
A few ground rules: The last few James Bond films pitted Craig’s Bond against a series of bigger and bigger names, from Javier Bardem to Oscar winner Rami Malek. This makes sense from a business standpoint but not from a James Bond standpoint; even as someone who halfheartedly defends 2015’s fairly disastrous Spectre (the first hour is good!), Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld was so on-the-nose in that film it ultimately deflated the first appearance of Bond’s historic arch nemesis in a Craig Bond film. Ironically, Andrew Scott–who plays a secondary surprise villain in the film–occupied the exact sweet spot of someone who could and should have played a first-billing villain at the time in the wake of his turn on BBC’s Sherlock.
So while Villeneuve may ultimately decide to cast an established star as the next Bond villain, I’m not going to suggest that Colman Domingo, Cillian Murphy, or Jeremy Strong step up to face whoever the Tom Ford suit turns out to fit. Ideally, you want an actor who’s garnered some acclaim in an awards-season film or two—maybe even an international hit—but hasn’t yet become a universally familiar face. The four actors below all have the combination of intangibles that would make for an unforgettable Bond antagonist.
Wagner Moura
David Lee/Courtesy of Amazon Studios