Henry Cavill is hardly a stranger to iconic characters, having recently extended his deal to continue playing the DCEU’s Superman, and will next be seen in Netflix’s Enola Holmes as the titular character’s famous older brother Sherlock. It certainly marks a change from the early days of his career, when the actor was in danger of gaining a reputation as a nearly man.
Having been linked with Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, Cavill also auditioned in costume for J.J. Abrams’ abandoned Superman: Flyby and found himself among the final contenders to play James Bond when the role was being recast for Casino Royale, ultimately losing out to Daniel Craig as the creative team opted to skew older, with the relative unknown only 22 years old at the time.
However, November’s release of No Time to Die will mark Craig’s final outing under the tux, and the rumor mill is already churning over who will be the next person to step into the shoes of cinema’s most famous secret agent. Having dipped his toes into the espionage genre with Guy Ritchie’s underrated The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and his arm-reloading turn in Mission: Impossible – Fallout in the past, Cavill is now once again said to be one of the top candidates for Bond.
And if you’re having trouble picturing it, some new fan art from SPDRMNKYXIII imagines how the star of Netflix’s global phenomenon The Witcher would look as 007, which you can check out below.
Playing Superman and James Bond at the same time would be a daunting task for any actor, especially one that already leads one of the world’s most popular TV shows, but Cavill has certainly shown he’s got the necessary charm and charisma to embody MI6’s finest should the producers come knocking at his door.