Despite Daniel Craig having signed up for another movie in the role, the upcoming, currently untitled Bond 25, that hasn’t stopped people from talking about who could be the next James Bond once the long running star of the franchise finally decides to hang up his tux for good. One of the names that often gets bandied about is Superman actor Henry Cavill, and fans of his might know that he was actually up for the role back in 2006’s Casino Royale, when he lost out on the part to Craig.
Since then, Cavill’s career has gone from strength to strength, thanks to his portrayal of a DC icon and other action roles like in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. With that in mind, would he still be interested in playing the part of 007? You bet he would! Yahoo UK spoke to Henry Cavill about the possibility of him portraying Bond and he explained how he thinks his experience on Fallout might have even made him a better candidate to embody the character now than he was before.
“I would love to do it of course. I think Bond would be a really fun role. It’s British, it’s cool. I think that now that I have my Mission: Impossible badge we can do real stunts and really amp it up as well… Not to say they weren’t doing real stunts I’m just saying it would be fun for me to actually take what I’ve learnt on this and carry it through to a movie like Bond. I’d love to play a Brit. I don’t get to play a Brit very often. So yes, I would love the opportunity and if they were to ask I would say ‘yes.'”
Of course, Mission: Impossible isn’t the first time the actor’s played a secret agent. 2015’s (vastly underrated) The Man From U.N.C.L.E. cast Henry Cavill as the very Bond-like Napoleon Solo – though, like he says above, the part was yet another American character. Can’t Hollywood let Cavill show off his natural British accent for once?
History is on Cavill’s side with this one, too, as a couple of James Bond actors who once lost out on the part have gone to play him a decade or so later – see: Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. That said, it’s entirely possible that Cavill might be just be too obvious a choice to replace Craig, as there’s been some talk of a black actor or actress assuming the immortal role next. If EON are mostly looking for someone who can do their own stunts, though, Cavill is certainly their man.