Rhys Ifans will likely take a big step up from "recognizable character actor" to "worldwide star" next summer, when The Amazing Spider-Man hits theaters and Ifans becomes known to the world as Spidey's latest foe, The Lizard. Given that villains don't tend to stick around superhero franchises for the next installment, this will probably be Ifans's first and last outing in the series, but he might be going for backup by jumping on board another franchise in the meantime. The Telegraph, yet another British newspaper that specializes in Bond 23 rumors, writes that Ifans will appear in the film, though they don't have any details beyond that.

The fact that Ifans is mentioned alongside Javier Bardem as a new cast member suggests he might be replacing Ralph Fiennes, who has been rumored for a role for months. Of course, the Telegraph doesn't get into that possibility, instead focusing on the fact that Ifans and Craig starred together in 2004's Enduring Love, an adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel in which Ifans played Craig's stalker. Actually, they've got a pretty good quote from Ifans to go along with it, so, alright, fine, let's play along:

“I spent the whole shoot winding up Dan Craig saying, 'Only four days to go now, Dan, darling, before our snogging scene.’ Even now, after two Bonds, Dan still maintains that the hardest stunt he’s ever done was getting to grips with my mouth.”

Another kiss in Bond 23 seems unlikely, but then again, you never know that those Bond villains will come up to throw the super spy off his game. So far as we know filming is still set to start this fall in time to make the release date of November 9, 2012, so as fall gets closer we may finally find sweet relief from this endless barrage of casting rumors. So far every single one of the names that have surfaced are pretty agreeable, including Naomie Harris as a potential Moneypenny, so it's not even like we can get all worked up about the rumors while waiting for confirmation. Clearly director Sam Mendes is eyeing a pretty reputable pool of candidates, so it's time for him to just pick a few and let us get excited about who he's actually chosen.