James Bond Casting: Here Are The 7 Actors Reportedly In The Running To Replace Daniel Craig

James Bond

Daniel Craig has served nobly as James Bond for four movies, but following the release of Spectre last year, many reports make it clear that he's ready to hang up the tuxedo. Although his departure hasn't been officially confirmed yet, casting rumors have been steadily leaking in, seemingly pointed to a new man becoming 007. Now seven actors have reportedly been gathered as the finalists to replace Craig for the 25th James Bond movie.

A new shortlist of actors being eyed to play the new James Bond (in no particular order) has been passed along by The Sun. Take a look and see if any of the candidates sound appealing.

Tom HiddlestonIdris ElbaMichael FassbenderLuke EvansCharlie HunnamJames NortonJamie Bell

Many of these names have been rumored before, but keep in mind this by no means official confirmation that any of these men are meeting for the role. Still, all these men could possibly pull of the role, depending on the story and tone. Lets focus on arguably the three most famous actors on the list.

Tom Hiddleston

Although best known as Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tom Hiddleston has impressed audiences recently with projects like I Saw the Light and The Night Manager, and he's also starring in next year's action-packed Kong: Skull Island. He certainly has the right kind of suaveness to play James Bond, and playing the spy would give him his own franchise to lead.

Idris Elba

Whether you've seen him in person, like on Luther and The Wire, or simply heard him, like in Zootopia and Finding Dory, Idria Elba has proved himself to be a talented actor many times over, and his name has repeatedly come up as a possible James Bond successor. However, Elba previously said that he hasn't spoken with anyone about playing 007, so unless the film brass have yet to contact him, him being on this list calls its authenticity into question.

Michael Fassbender

Michael Fassbender's fame has slowly grown ever since he began playing a younger Magneto in the X-Men movies, but his other notable movies include Prometheus, 12 Years a Slave, Frank and Steve Jobs. He also has the familiar kind of demeanor we expect for James Bond, but with all the big blockbuster franchises he's already involved with (which could also include Assassin's Creed, depending on how the first movie does), he may not have time to commit to playing 007.

As for the remaining four actors, Jamie Bell is the only one who's previously been rumored to play James Bond, but the others have built solid careers for themselves. If any of these men sound like a particularly good choice to replace Daniel Craig, let us know in the comments section. The next James Bond movie hasn't been assigned a release date yet, but we'll keep you updated on its progress as more relevant information comes in.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.