After actor Daniel Craig vacated his role as the suave, globetrotting 007, rumors began to swirl as to who should replace him. At the moment, bookies still view former Bridgerton hunk Rege-Jean Page as the favorite to put on the tux with odds of 5/2. Coming in at a close second is Henry Cavill at 4/1, Aidan Turner at 8/1, Tom Hardy at 6/1 and Idris Elba at 12/1. However, the word is, after scoring favorably in market research, producers are considering Elba for the role coveted role of James Bond.

In 2019, the 49-year-old Brit admitted that he would love to play Bond. He said:

While Elba had expressed interest in playing Bond, he also discussed the prospect of playing a villain in the next film. At the time, the powers-that-be did not want Elba as a nemesis. Recently, a source spoke to The Sun newspaper and stated:

“James Bond is a hugely coveted, iconic, beloved character that takes audiences on this massive escapism journey. Of course, if someone said to me, ‘Do you want to play James Bond?,’ I’d be like, ‘Yeah!’”

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Earlier this year, James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli even confirmed that the Luther star had been in the running for the iconic role, stating:

“Idris has long been in talks to play a role in the next era of James Bond’s story and last year was being considered for a role as an antagonist. However, talks surrounding him playing the lead have started again as producers realized how popular he would be after carrying out secret market research. He ranked highly among the diverse group of movie buffs invited to participate in it. They didn’t want to see him as a nemesis, they want him as the hero.”

Elba, who has had starring roles in the hit crime drama The Wire and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, recently finished the feature-length film of his crime drama Luther. His next project, a dark fantasy, Three Thousand Years of Longing set to hit theaters on August 31, followed by Apple’s thriller Hijack, which Elba will produce as well as star in.

“We know Idris, I’m friends with him. He’s a magnificent actor. You know, he has been part of the conversation, but it’s always difficult to have conversations when you have somebody in the seat.”