On the Subject of the Next Bond...

 

Pandemic willing, the next installment in the James Bond film franchise should see the inside of a theater before there are none left to screen it. And it will also be the last for current torch bearer Daniel Craig; cue the windmill of rumors and speculations. Might as well touch the subject, and not just because of a recent Showdown on this here platform, but because a once-candidate is again trying to throw his steel-rimmed hat in the ring. Superman himself is telling whomever will listen that he's ready to go.

The prospect of the next Walther PPK owner resurfaced this month thanks to Henry Cavill who, doing the rounds for the Netflix franchise-in-waiting Enola Holmes, kept being asked about his chances to put on the tuxedo now that he's a world-renowned name. He was considered for the part back when Casino Royale was being pitched, but the then-22 years old was passed on in favor of 36-year old Craig. It wasn't age though that that tilted the scale away from him, but his size; last year the actor candidly expressed that his weight lost him the part. Who knows if THAT's true; Christian Bale got the Batman part after playing a living skeleton in The Mechanic, but then overdid his weight gain by 100lbs, and STILL got to put on the... rubbers. 

"Why YES, I would be awesome has a young Hagrid!"

Setting aside the REAL reason he hasn't a chance in Krypton for a moment, one needs to argue that his fame and actor's resume work against him, not in his favor. The original Bond, Sir Sean "Hot Shingles" Connery was a complete unknown before Dr No, and Pierce Brosnan was known but not exactly a 'star' thus his casting came with no baggage other than having played a Bond-wannabe in mid-80s TV fixture Remington Steele. Craig Himself had little to brag about before Bond came along, you can't quite blame Timothy Dalton for how badly his tenure stank, and George Lazenby would've Lived & let Die had he kept quiet rather than big-mouth himself off the job (MGM circulated that poor Box-Office returns prompted his dismissal and not the actor getting too big for his britches, yet on paper his only 007 outing was on par with Connery's previous). 

Yes Roger More was already a well-known name when he took over, but when I watch him schmooze Carole Bouquet I still see Simon Templar and not Flemming's licensed killer, which proves my point. Cavill already played an iconic super-spy in The Man form UNCLE (which originally was a Bond rip-off for TV) as well as a super-guy who arguably is the most famous comic book hero of all. Add to that Netflix's global success with The Witcher whom Cavill portrays, and you got a case of casting Jeremy Renner to replace both Ethan Hunt and Jason Bourne: putting an already over-exposed actor in yet another established franchise. Hire Johnny Depp as Dr No and ScarJo as Pussy Galore and you crafted the least inspired spy film of the century. A money-maker for sure, but boring in every aspect.

Back to reality though, Henry Cavill should get himself used to wearing yellow contacts because as hinted earlier, not a chance. Now before anyone call me a Nazi, I don't CARE what gender/nationality/ethnicity/sexual identity the next Bond would be. I didn't care that Zend...whatever her name is, is now Spidey's "MJ", that Wally & Iris West are no longer gingers, that Hikaru Sulu bats for the other team, as long as the part is well-written and the actor being cast brings it around downtown. But it would be hypocritical not to acknowledge the fact that more people would be outraged at yet another white dude to play Bond than at another 200k people dying of the current pandemic. For years now movements, real and astro-turfed, have called for a black stud or a bad-ass lady to flirt with Moneypenny. 

As Dr No-F***ing-Way-Mate, he'd be superb!

Let me be clear about what I previously said of Idris Elba, who was and probably still is a fan-favorite for the famed spy: he's 48. By the time another Bond film starts filming -let alone gets released- he will be over 50. "But Anthony," you say, "Roger Moore was 46 when he made his first Bond". No, he was 45 when he made it then the film got release the next year. Also, producing a movie back then was far quicker and easier; his first 4 outings came out within 6 years. It will have taken 16 to see all of Craig's 5 turns. So by the time Elba reaches film #3 he will have crossed 60, and be getting down with a supermodel who's only 20. We're talking Bond, not the U.S. presidency, for Q's sake.

At this point it honestly is anyone's guess who will take over the mantle of the Master Spy from Daniel Craig, but for my money, if Henry Cavill really needs to play an archaic literary character that many before have put their stamp on, I'd much rather see Netflix go the whole nine on their Enola Holmes experiment and give the big guy a big Holmes film of his own.