The debate over who will be Daniel Craig’s Bond successor has seen a who’s who of Hollywood actors, with Bridgeton’s Rege-Jean Page and Sonic the Hedgehog 2's Idris Elba, being named. Another familiar face that has popped up in the conversation is Uncharted’s Tom Holland. Being a huge fan of the Bond films, especially the ones from the Daniel Craig era, made a case for Holland. At one time, he appeared to be campaigning to become the next 007, as he spoke on a pitch he gave for a potential James Bond movie.
Of course, the actor is no stranger to intense action or undercover work as seen in box office hits Spider-Man: No Way Home and Uncharted. Before hopping on a potential franchise with Uncharted, Holland wanted the James Bond franchise to be the next role on his resume. But he wasn’t down for retreading the Craig films as Tom Holland spilled on Late Night with Seth Meyers where he wanted to take the international spy.
It didn’t work out quite as planned. Essentially, I’m such a big fan of James Bond. I’ve loved Daniel Craig’s movies. And I just thought: If they were to move on it would be really exciting to see how James Bond becomes James Bond. So, I pitched this idea for a movie, which is kind of a stupid idea. Essentially you wouldn’t tell the audience that it was a James Bond movie until the end, but from a marketing point of view, that’s a nightmare. Like that just doesn’t make any sense.
Watching a James Bond film without knowing it’s a Bond film might not have have worked for diehard fans. Bond origin or introduction stories aren’t anything new as seen with Craig’s 007 in Casino Royale. But not getting the full James Bond treatment likely wouldn’t have gone over well, which Holland completely understood. Keeping Bond’s identity as a secret would’ve countered Tom Holland’s loose lip persona. Even Seth Meyers doubted Holland’s ability to keep a secret. And the Uncharted star proved him right, saying,
If I got cast as Bond, I’d be like, I am James Bond. Tweet.
At least Holland was honest about how the world would learn about his Bond tenure. The tweet would’ve fallen right in line with the number of times Tom Holland spilled Marvel secrets early in his MCU career. So if he lands the role one day, Twitter would be the place to watch.
But gunning for the James Bond role isn’t anything new for the Spider-Man: No Way Home star. This wasn’t the first time Holland has mentioned his ill-fated pitch as neither Sony Pictures nor the Bond estate were interested in his young James Bond idea. But his pitch did lead him to land another huge project instead – Nathan Drake in Uncharted. That doesn’t mean Tom Holland has given up on wanting the role of 007 as his No Way Home co-star Jacob Batalon mentioned Holland talked about the role a lot. So the Hollywood star hasn’t given up on his Bond dreams.
At least Holland got his shot at an origin story as a young Nathan Drake. Now he has a burgeoning franchise after celebrating Uncharted’s opening weekend with some bonus puppy love. There are more franchises debuting or returning to theaters as more upcoming releases are set to arrive. But if all this James Bond talk has you wanting more undercover work or impressive gadgets in your life, you can watch these 10 new spy movies and TV shows to fill the void.
