By Dan Heching, CNN
(CNN) — Everyone’s favorite fictional British Secret Service agent is experiencing a managerial changeup, but for us, the moviegoing public, it means just one thing: time to start dream-casting again.
After it was announced on Thursday that creative control of the “James Bond” film series – based on the Ian Fleming books – is being handed off from longtime producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli to Amazon MGM Studios, the question yet again arises, who should play an updated version of the famed spy who goes by 007?
Daniel Craig is the most recent actor in a line of men who have taken on the role (beginning, of course, with Sean Connery in 1962’s “Dr. No”), but Craig announced back before his last Bond film – 2021’s “No Time to Die” – that it would be his last. Using only one proviso – that the actor be British – here are the performers we’d love to see shake up the franchise next:
Idris Elba
While Elba has been floated out as a potential Bond replacement for many years, he dashed most fans’ hopes when he commented on the idea in 2023, saying that the racist response from various places put him off. We still think the suave and husky-voiced actor would be perfect.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
With classic movie star looks and a solid background in action movies (his fight against Brad Pitt in “Bullet Train” is already one for the books), Taylor-Johnson is a no-brainer. Chances are him as Bond will go over a lot better than him as Kraven the Hunter.
Josh O’Connor
One of the more recent actors to come up in the always-running James Bond rumor mill is this brooding standout performer from last year’s tennis/love-triangle romance “Challengers.” We’re not mad at the idea.
Jonathan Bailey
Fresh off the success of “Wicked” (with a sequel to that on the way), Bailey is next up to lead the “Lost World” dino franchise opposite Scarlett Johansson this summer. Why not take on this other storied film franchise next, Jonathan?
Regé-Jean Page
Bailey’s “Bridgerton” costar Page made many, many viewers hot under the collar in that Netflix bodice-ripper, so it’s only natural that he be considered to play Bond, a famously hot-under-the-collar character himself.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
After Lashana Lynch took on the codename 007 in “No Time to Die,” is opened up endless possibilities for the character, and why not? After her head-turning performance as a double-crossing TVA agent in Disney/Marvel’s “Loki,” the versatile Mbatha-Raw would be an excellent choice if they decide to make Bond female.
Henry Golding
In “Crazy Rich Asians,” Golding – who is Malaysian and English, and spent much of his childhood in Surrey, England – had the handsome and debonair Brit act down pat. It would be the most natural of transitions to give him a handgun and a martini shaken, not stirred.
Tilda Swinton
Just hear us out. Oscar-winner Swinton is such a chameleon, and so compulsively watchable, she would be great in practically any role. And Bond would be no different – she would definitely make for a classy and unorthodox choice.
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